Chat's Five
by DearestMrIcarus
Summary: A decade after becoming Chat Noir, Adrien stumbles onto his father’s secret. Now, in order to stop Hawkmoth once and for all, he must infiltrate a fashion show with help from an unlikely team: an heiress, a DJ, a reporter and a designer. Will Chat and Team Miraculous achieve their goal? And will they finally discover each other’s identities? SEQUEL- Chat's Seven coming soon!
1. Rainy Days and Sundays

Author's Note: Epcot97 here alongside DearestMrIcarus. Many, many months ago -- back before the heat of the summer hit -- we were tossing around ideas for cool projects we might want to work on together, and the idea of a heist/caper story came together amazingly quickly. We were a few chapters into it when we we dove headlong into MariChatJune and never completed the work. Fast-forward to late August: both of us had completed a number of other projects and this one popped back onto our radar. Happily we were able to pick up the breadcrumbs we'd left behind and finish what we started. (Admittedly, any chance to work with Ic is a bonus in my book - even if it does take forever between our crazy schedules! Sorry about that, my friend.)

Y'all, its Ic here. I CATnnot even tell MEW how excited I am for you to read this story. (What's that Ep? I need bettPURR puns? Meowch, that stings.)

Taking place at some point beyond the series, this story finds us following adult versions of our favorite superheroes as they balance real life and it's crazy relationships with their duty to protect Paris. Mix in a sudden revelation that changes everything… and, well, you'll just have to read the story now, won't you?

**One: Rainy Days And Sundays**

The deluge started halfway back to the mansion.

Rain had been threatening all evening, but Chat had dragged out his departure from Marinette's new apartment, relishing in their celebratory dessert over both her new digs and their first full year as an official couple. He'd surprised her with the gift of booking Adrien Agreste to model her latest work at the massive Spring Fashion Show that would be taking place the following week in Paris – something her fledgling design studio would never have been able to have afforded, given the worldwide demand for the supermodel's talents. It helped that Chat had an inside track with Adrien.

Her subsequent thank you had been eloquent and had been partially responsible for his delay in returning.

Chat landed on the rooftop opposite Agreste Manor, a perch he'd often used while he'd been living with his Father. He'd moved out at his first opportunity; initially, a dorm at University, and now his current apartment not all that far away from Marinette. That had been purposeful: Chat had carefully recommended a few locations to her, while ensuring the lowest-rent one closest to Adrien turned out to be the best option.

Not that being close to Adrien mattered; it was Chat that Marinette was dating. How he'd managed to pull off keeping his alter-ego's identity secret from the woman he loved for more than a year was a feat of tap dancing he was particularly proud of. There would come a time when he'd be able to reveal himself to Marinette. When he did, he knew one of the first things she'd do would be to tease him about the short commute Chat had been making between their two apartments.

Aside from his monthly mandatory dinner-with-Father stayovers, Adrien seldom visited his old digs. His deal with Gabriel Agreste was that any income from modelling was his free and clear; that provided for his apartment and day-to-day living needs and gave him much needed flexibility to continue his side gig as Chat Noir. He definitely didn't look forward to the monthly stayovers, though, but Gabriel had insisted on them as his price for allowing Adrien to control his career without interference from his father. Fortunately, Adrien had been successful enough on the modelling front he'd managed to avoid tapping his trust fund and the ensuing additional strings attached to it.

Nothing in their arrangement precluded him from having dinner with Father, retiring early to his old bedroom, and then transforming into Chat Noir to spend the balance of the evening with someone whose company he truly enjoyed. That was the only part of his monthly stayovers he actually cared about.

He paused, looking over the mansion that had for so long been his prison. Freedom had arrived with Master Fu and the Cat Miraculous ten years ago. Though much had changed since then, one constant hadn't: through everything, he and Ladybug had yet to defeat Hawkmoth. So the battle continued, often daily, to protect Paris and keep Hawkmoth from obtaining any further jewels.

The light was on in his old bedroom, just as he'd left it, but the window he'd carefully left open for his return was closed. He raised a masked eyebrow. While the brewing storm had drenched him thoroughly, there hadn't been much wind; certainly not enough to have blown the window shut.

Removing the baton from the small of his back, he extended it slightly and helicoptered over the fence of the mansion and landed on the ledge just below the window. Perched on his boot toes, he could tell definitively it was closed, locked from the inside.

Chat frowned.

Carefully, he slid along the ledge, confirming the other panels were similarly locked, ignoring the rain that was matting down his wild blonde mane and running across his vision. Short of smashing the window, which was a possibility, of course, there was no way he'd be re-entering from here.

He continued to the edge of the floor, and using his claws, climbed over toward the connecting bathroom. Chat wasn't surprised to see that window was also locked. Vaulting up to the roof proper, he settled into a cat crouch to consider what to do next.

For the great Chat Noir was apparently locked out.

There was no point in checking any other windows; he was certain that the smart home his Father had designed had automatically closed everything up at the first drop of rain. He could possibly wait out the storm, but that didn't seem terribly desirable. Returning to Marinette was an option, but Adrien would need to be seen at breakfast back at the mansion.

That left the front door. If he timed it right, maybe he could get in without being detected and back to the room before anyone knew differently. Chat smiled – he hadn't been this sneaky since he'd been a teenager. Clearly being home was rubbing off on him.

Creeping to the edge of the roof over the massive front doors, he hung over it upside down to case the entrance. The atelier was just off to the side, and he could see the lights were still on. That wasn't unusual – Gabriel was up at all hours working on the very designs Adrien spent most of his career wearing in front of a photographer.

The light indicated where Gabriel was; the wildcard was whether he'd dragged Nathalie in at this late hour. Gorilla had long since retired owing to Adrien having moved out, so that meant he had a better than average chance if Nathalie was in the atelier with his father. Carefully, he extended the baton and rode it down to the door, gently landing on his padded soles. The door opened easily beneath his paw, and he cracked it slightly, feline ear pressed to the opening.

Fortunately, the foyer was empty save for the ticking of the grandfather clock. The main chandeliers had been extinguished for the evening, and the remaining wall sconces lit the space sparingly. It was appropriately murky atmosphere for a stealthy entrance.

He could make out voices in the atelier, though. Faint. One male, one female.

Slowly, he pushed the door open just enough to scoot through and tried to close it quietly. Chat was thwarted, though, when the latch clicked home loudly, causing his ears to flatten in concern.

The voices in the atelier ceased suddenly.

Quickly, he vaulted across the space and landed on the far side behind a very uncomfortable couch in the darkest part of the foyer. He crouched against the back and held his breath, trying to keep his ears below the top of the couch's seatback.

The door to the atelier opened. "What is it?" Nathalie's voice said from inside.

"I thought I heard the door," a familiar, yet oddly unfamiliar voice said. Father, but not.

In a flash of insight, Chat realized the voice sounded much like his did when transformed – it was mostly Adrien, but slightly different.

What the Hell?

Chat slid down further, and carefully used his claws to pry the couch's rear cushion up enough that he could get a clear line of sight to the door. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Hawkmoth was standing there, back to the couch, examining the foyer. "Maybe not," he said, turning, his eyes sweeping the space and landing on the couch.

Chat froze. Every instinct told him he was in grave danger, but he couldn't immediately reconcile why he didn't spring into action and take down his archenemy.

Hawkmoth paused a moment longer and then turned and returned to the atelier. "As I was saying, we need to finish the designs for the Spring Collection that will be at the show," he said as he closed the door.

Show? Spring Collection?

Chat's heart stopped. He knew, without any doubt, he had just discovered who Hawkmoth was. He let the cushion crumple back into its normal shape and slumped down. All these years, especially those where he'd been living in this same house.

He had to know what was going on in that room.

Moved to action, Chat vaulted across the space and landed in a crouch outside the atelier door. He paused for a moment, then pressed a feline ear to the door.

"…sure it's a good idea to use them?"

"We need an edge," he heard Father/Hawkmoth respond. "We've lost significant market share worldwide. I'm convinced these designs will make the difference."

"It's risky," Nathalie replied. "I can't believe you'd willing let someone else wear the brooch."

"There are ways I can protect myself," he said. "But the jewels figure into my design."

Jewels? Chat thought. Plural?

He was aware the Peacock Miraculous was missing; was it possible it was in Hawkmoth's possession, too? Since Mayura's appearance years ago during Hero's Day, they'd assumed the holder of the Peacock had, at the very least, been working with Hawkmoth. This gave him strong evidence that the relationship went far deeper than that.

Nathalie, he thought. My God. They're working together. I'd be willing to bet they have been this entire time.

"You could trust Adrien to wear them," Nathalie said.

"That's a possibility," Hawkmoth replied. "I have to get him out that contract he signed with Dupain Designs first, though. Our lawyers are looking at it now."

Chat raised a masked eyebrow. I've got my own lawyers now, Father, he thought. And they wrote the contract. Wait until you see what I'm charging her…

"That will do it for tonight, Nathalie," Hawkmoth said. "Let me take that from you and put it back into the safe."

"Of course, sir," he heard the secretary reply. Hawkmoth muttered something that he couldn't quite pickup, but his feline hearing did pick out the telltale signature sound of a de-transformation sequence.

Chat pulled back from the door. Could he get in there and catch both what Gabriel was storing, and where he was storing it? He had just a few seconds to decide, knowing Nathalie would come through the door shortly.

I need to know.

Quickly, he vaulted from his position to the mezzanine above, catching the railing with a clawtip and hauling himself over the edge in a smooth movement. Down on all fours, he bounded across the walkway toward his bedroom, leapt down the short stairway to the door and cracked it open. Standing, he quickly called out: "Plagg - claws in!"

The green wave of de-transformation washed over him and he was once again Adrien, clad in the lounge pants and tank top that passed for his nightwear these days. He started down the stairway toward the atelier, trying air dry his hair by rapidly running his hands through it. The damp locks were the only sign from his escape.

He met Nathalie at the atelier's door, his hand raised to knock.

"Adrien," she said coolly. "Good evening."

"Nathalie," he replied, equally as cold. "Is Father in? I had trouble getting to sleep, and thought I heard him down here."

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes," she said, and stepped aside to allow him entry.

Gabriel was at his design workstation, a much larger monitor than he'd used years ago. He didn't look up. "Adrien," he said simply.

"Father," Adrien replied. The Agrestes were not known for their loquaciousness toward each other.

Adrien considered his words carefully as he surreptitiously scanned the room. Nothing was out of place, and there was certainly no evidence of the Miraculous jewels Hawkmoth had to have been holding mere moments earlier. His eyes fell on the portrait of his mother. He knew from his ill-fated decision years earlier to steal the Miraculous Grimoire there was a safe behind that portrait, and he was willing to bet the jewels were in there, too. "I was having trouble sleeping," he repeated, "and heard you down here. Are you working on items for the Spring show?"

His eyes locked onto Gabriel's, and as he waited for his Father's response, one thought occurred to him. Gabriel wouldn't be willing to remove his Miraculous and risk being separated from Nooroo. That made it unlikely that the Moth brooch would be in the safe; but the Peacock pin might. And Adrien was reasonably certain the Grimoire was still in there, too.

We have to get them, he thought.

"I am," Gabriel's voice cut through his thoughts. "Since you are under an NDA with House of Gabriel, you are welcome to see them," he added, stepping back from the console.

Adrien stepped around and up to the console. The virtual light table had multiple concept sketches open, and he methodically went through them, murmuring his approval at the designs. His Father may be a megalomaniac villain bent on destroying Paris and taking Chat and Ladybug with it, but he was also undeniably a genius designer. Adrien scanned each sketch until he landed on two that confirmed what he had heard as Chat.

One was a classically cut men's three-piece suit in blue-purple, vaguely echoing the outfit Hawkmoth wore. An old fashioned cravat around the neck was pinned to the underlying shirt with the telltale Moth brooch. The second was a flowing evening gown in deep blue, with a ruffle evoking a fan; the Peacock pin was prominently placed below one shoulder, holding the two pieces of the strap that went over the shoulder together.

Both were stunning, despite their clear misuse of the jewels.

"Amazing, Father," Adrien said, adding casually, "Are the prototypes done?"

"Yes," Gabriel replied. "They are in the vault already, awaiting the exhibition."

"These two in particular," Adrien said, pointing to the suit and the dress, "I don't recognize the jewels. Who is loaning them to you?"

Adrien was aware that the old line jewelers would routinely lend out their most famous pieces for use in shows such as the one coming up. On the face of it, it would appear to be an innocuous question to his Father.

"It's a boutique shop from Asia," Gabriel said, as he reached around and closed out the sketches. "And I remind you that you have a signed NDA."

Adrien allowed a dangerous Chat-like smile to appear. "Worried about me working for the competition, are you?" he asked. "You should be. I've seen what Dupain Designs will be showing."

Gabriel looked at Adrien, hard. "I will crush her just as I have crushed all the other competitors that have come after me." He leaned forward, in a manner that younger Adrien would have found threatening. "You may share that with Mademoiselle Dupain."

This Adrien stood his ground. "Don't worry," he said, his response laced with a subtext Gabriel would not understand, "I will. Good night, Father."

He backed away, waiting to break eye contact until the last possible moment, and then to leave the atelier. Adrien carefully made his way back to his old bedroom and shut the door behind him.

The space was not his own anymore, of course. Save for the bed, the rest of his childhood belongings had been packed and stored once he'd left for University. He had a handful of changes of clothes in the closet, and that was the limit of his personalization.

Plagg floated out from where he had been hiding. "Yes," he said before Adrien even spoke. "Transform and find Ladybug."

Despite the situation, Adrien smiled. "This is normally where I have to ply you with vast quantities of cheese in order to convince you to transform me," he laughed grimly. "That tells me you feel this is just as serious as I fear it is."

"And it's the best opportunity we've had yet to close out Hawkmoth's reign of terror." Plagg actually lifted up Adrien's ring hand. "Go. I'll recharge later."

"Plagg – claws out!"

Once the green glow faded, Chat Noir overrode the settings on the window and leapt back out into the rain, pausing only once he'd reached a rooftop a safe distance from the mansion. Pulling out the baton, he clicked into the phone function and speed dialed Ladybug.

It took a moment, but her beautiful masked face appeared on his tiny screen. "Chat?" she asked, stifling a yawn. "Please tell me it's not an akuma. I need a few hours more sleep tonight."

"Not an akuma," he said. "Possibly worse. I know who Hawkmoth is."

Her eyes widened. "How--?"

"We need to talk," he said urgently, cutting her off. "Where can I meet you?"


	2. Dealing

Two: Dealing

Author's Note: Ep here. We heard you! Starting today, we'll update three times a week (Monday, Wednesday Friday).

Chat was pacing on the roof of their normal rendezvous point. For years, they had been meeting atop one of the buildings that fronted the river and had a rather striking view of the Eiffel Tower, but tonight, his eyes were focused inward; his emotions, torn.

How, he wondered, had I missed all of the signs? They were plain as day.

His tail twisted, telegraphing his angst. It was so obvious now that he thought about it. The chance discovery of the Grimoire and the rather lame excuse his Father had given; the secrecy; his overbearing demeanor in all things Adrien. But most of all, the anger. Over what, he still didn't know; clearly, it had driven him through all these years and all of the battles he and Ladybug had been forced to fight. Tonight he'd finally seen the person his Father was, and he was terrified all over again at how close to home his enemy had been.

And perhaps still was.

His thoughts in turmoil, he failed to hear the approach of Ladybug's yo-yo. She had to gently touch him on his shoulder to get his attention, and even then, he yelped and backflipped to a chimney, baton out and twirling.

"Chat? My God! It's just me!" Ladybug said, seeing the wild look behind his masked eyes.

Chat's eyes widened a bit. "Sorry, Milady," he said sheepishly as he spun down his baton and replaced it on his back. He dropped down with a slight splash, and shook out some rain from his mane. "It has been one Hell of a night."

Ladybug managed to squash a slight quirk at the corner of her mouth and stifle the somewhat sarcastic comment behind it. For she was well aware of how Chat had spent a good portion of his evening. Instead, she stepped a bit closer to him, closer than Ladybug would normally do, and placed a compassionate hand on his arm. "Tell me about it."

He started to say something, and paused before he did. She watched as something passed across his masked face, but it was gone before Ladybug could assign an emotion to it. Once it resettled into a somewhat normal, if not drenched, Chat expression, he spoke. "You know the model, Adrien Agreste?" he asked.

Ladybug had a harder time squashing the surprised expression on her face. There was a name -- and oh, such a beautiful face -- she'd tried hard to put out of her mind years ago. Chat had no idea, though, that her alter ego had once harbored a multi-year crush that had gone unrequited. The two had gone their separate ways after high school; she'd not thought of him until Chat had that very evening surprised her by getting Adrien to agree to model her line at the Spring Fashion show. Hearing his name twice in the same evening threatened to break down some of the walls she had put around that old flame.

Carefully, she responded. "The world famous model? On every billboard in Paris? Never heard of him," she laughed as she waved a hand dismissively. Chat raised an eyebrow, clearly hearing how forced her answer had been, so she quickly continued. "I know you two are acquainted."

The eyebrow went higher, and Ladybug realized she, Ladybug, had no reason to know that. So she hastily added: "At least, I think you told me that? Didn't you save him or something? Or did I?" She laughed again, trying to cover her mistake. "It's hard to keep track."

That seemed to mollify Chat, though Ladybug was at a loss as to why he'd be perplexed.

"Well, I… happened to be close to Agreste Manor this evening," he said. "There was a light on in Adrien's room--"

"Ah," she said. "I remember the space. We fought off more than one akuma in that mansion."

"Exactly," Chat replied. "I thought it was odd that the light was on at that hour, so I made an unscheduled layover. Adrien was up and troubled."

"Really?" Chat now had Ladybug's complete attention.

"Long story short, he apparently witnessed Hawkmoth de-transforming." Chat was sticking close to the truth, much as he could. "It's his Father, Gabriel."

"What?!" Ladybug exclaimed. All at once, her protective streak when it came to Adrien Agreste crashed back upon her, and she was sorely tempted to fling her yo-yo out into the storm and rescue her once-possible sweetheart. "But we've seen him akumatized!"

"And--" Chat started to say, and she watched him self-edit on the fly. He knew he couldn't remind her of the numerous times he had done something as Adrien in order to throw off anyone getting too suspicious of his connection to Chat. "That means nothing. And add to that the fact that we know Gabriel Agreste has the Grimoire--"

This time, Ladybug couldn't keep her face passive. "How on Earth--"

"Adrien," Chat said. "He's the one that told me. Tonight. Though I'm not sure he understands what it is, exactly; he said he once stole it from his Father, lost it briefly but Marinette found it and returned it. The way he describes what's in the book makes it sound very much like the one Master Fu has photos of." He paused. "I'll have to ask Marinette about it. Knowing her, I'm sure she must have flipped through it as well."

Ladybug had to try and look nonplussed, for technically, Chat hadn't disclosed to her that he'd been dating anyone. "You see her? Often?"

He had the good sense to look a bit flustered, making him suddenly seem more like the thirteen-year-old she'd met all those years ago. Chat even had a slight tinge of embarrassment coloring his exposed cheeks - something she found immensely endearing. "I'm sorry, Milady," he said. "I'd planned on telling you but never quite found the right moment."

"Well, as long as you're not dating her as Chat Noir…" she said, intentionally teasing him without his knowledge. She couldn't help the smile on her face when those cheeks of his flamed a deep crimson. "No!" she said. "Tell me you're not!"

"Hey!" he said defensively, face flushing more. "You've spent ten years telling me how important it is to keep our identities secret! It's not my fault she fell in love with Chat!"

"All right, all right," she laughed, "calm down, kitty. It's fine, but we'll have to deal with that later. The bigger question is what do we do about Gabriel Agreste?"

"We break in," Chat said with a level of certainty she'd rarely seen from her partner. "Take the Grimoire and the two Miraculous jewels he has."

"Whoa, wait a moment. What do you mean, two?"

"I heard -- er, rather, Adrien heard Hawkmoth clearly say he was going to use the Moth and Peacock jewels as part of his Spring Collection. They both have to be there in the mansion."

"You don't seriously think we can swoop in, tonight, and just 'lift' the goods?" Ladybug asked.

"Why not?" Chat said, defensive again. "Between the two of us--"

"I can't believe I'm even saying this. Especially given how long we've been doing this now, Chat. But we need a plan. And aren't you usually the one that wants to 'track and observe' first?"

Chat looked down at the puddles around his boots and shuffled a bit in the rain. His wild locks of blond hair fell forward as he studied his toes. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, you're right."

"Do you think we can get back in tonight?"

"Adrien left the window open for me," Chat said. "He won't be there, though. Seeing Hawkmoth freaked him out pretty badly, so he's left for the evening."

Something in the way Chat said that caught Ladybug's attention. "You know where he lives, don't you?"

"Yes," Chat said, looking back at her, his eyes masking something. "He's a friend, Ladybug."

"I had no idea," she replied, and choked back her next question. After all this time, she couldn't believe how desperately she wanted to run to Adrien's side. So much for being a mature professional.

"C'mon," Chat said, pulling out his baton and twirling it up as an umbrella for a moment. "We only have a few hours before dawn."

They landed on the rooftop of the Agreste Mansion, and Chat deftly led Ladybug to the bedroom window he had left open earlier. He'd not been lying to her, necessarily: Adrien had been freaked out and immediately donned his Chat persona to avoid dealing with what he'd seen. Now, as he flipped through the window with Ladybug right behind him, more than that fear was on his mind.

Suddenly, he was thirteen again, and sneaking back into the mansion after spending the evening fighting akumas with the girl he'd been madly in love with. It had been years since he'd thought of Ladybug in those terms, but the very fact she was dropping into his bedroom with him had brought all of his old feelings back.

He'd landed in a four-point crouch and shook out his blonde mane, ostensibly to get the rain out but more to clear his head. It dawned on him that as Chat, he shouldn't know his way around the mansion. In fact, he suspected Ladybug would start growing suspicious if he showed any familiarity beyond spaces the two of them had been in as superheroes. And trying to use the "Adrien told me" explanation would grow old just as quickly. That presented a conundrum, as he was fully aware of some of the back passageways he'd often used as Adrien in order to escape detection, most particularly when stealing additional cheese for Plagg.

Chat decided to stick with the obvious until he could "accidentally" stumble upon a shortcut. "I'll see if anyone is about," he said as he skulked to one of the two bedroom doors and pressed a feline ear to it.

"Anything?"

"No," he said as he carefully cracked the door and peered out into the darkened space. All of the lights had been extinguished, though he knew better than to assume everyone was in bed. Squinting, though, his night vision didn't pick up any stray light from the atelier or the dining room, or even the kitchen for that matter. Chat craned his neck toward his Father's room on the third floor. It was similarly quiet. He waved a paw at Ladybug, who pressed herself into his back. "The atelier is where Adrien saw Hawkmoth and thinks the jewels might be stored," he whispered. "Follow me."

She squeezed his shoulder and the two of them crept out to the mezzanine. Chat vaulted over the railing and dropped lightly into a crouch on the tile; Ladybug dove over and rolled into a tumble that opened up next to him. Keeping low, the two of them moved to the atelier doorway, and Chat tested the handle. It was unlocked, and he very carefully pressed it open.

"Adrien mentioned there was a camera in this space," Chat whispered. "It caught him when he, uh, borrowed the Grimoire from Gabriel."

They crept into the room and kept close to a desk by the door. Chat knew it was Nathalie's workstation but prudently failed to identify it for Ladybug. Instead, he pointed with a claw to a painting against the far wall of a beautiful woman. "The safe is behind that portrait."

"She's stunning," Ladybug said, and immediately recognized the figure as being Adrien's long-missing mother. She'd been privileged to have watched a movie with Adrien that his mother had starred in and would recognize that face anywhere. But she couldn't say that to Chat. "How does it open?"

That caught Chat. When he'd stolen the Grimoire the first time, Plagg had actually opened the safe from the inside for him. That wasn't an option this time out. "Uh, I don't know…"

"See," Ladybug whispered. "'Track and observe' right?"

"All right," he replied, narrowing his slightly glowing green eyes at her. "You've made your point, LB. We need some sort of safe cracker." He smirked as he raised his ring hand. "Cata--"

"CHAT!" Ladybug hissed as she slapped down his hand. "You are not going to dissolve the door to the safe."

He let his smile grow wider. "Of course, Milady," he laughed quietly. "One more stop, I think."

As he led her back out of the atelier, she asked: "Where are we going now?"

"Gabriel Agreste has a vault here in the mansion for all of his prototypes. Two of the pieces we need to see should be there."

He closed the door quietly after the exited. "Where is it?" Ladybug asked.

"I'm making a guess," Chat lied. "I think we can get to it from the exterior. Follow me!"

He vaulted back up the staircase to his bedroom level, and waited for Ladybug to join him. Once she did, they quickly trotted back into the bedroom. "Head to the roof, I'll be right behind you," he said as he gently pressed the door closed.

Ladybug shot her yo-yo out the open window, and Chat waited for her to clear before he vaulted over to the windowsill and then flipped up and onto the roof above it. He hooked a paw around his partner and pulled her to the rear of the mansion. He came to an abrupt stop at the edge and pointed down with a claw, then quickly hugged his paws around a downspout and slid to an alleyway that ran a story below the rear of the mansion.

She landed next to Chat, who was kneeling in front of an unremarkable door at the rear of the structure. In his rush to escape the rain and re-enter the mansion earlier, he'd completely forgotten about the rear entrance; smiling slightly, he realized that if he had remembered, they'd have been none-the-wiser to Hawkmoth's true identity.

Fate works in mysterious ways, he thought as a grim smile appeared on his masked face.

Chat carefully inserted one of his claws into the keyhole of the door and closed his eyes as he worked the mechanism. A moment later, his feline ears shot straight up when they both heard the lock click open. "Just like old times," he laughed under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing, Milady." Pressing the door open, he slipped inside with his partner close on his heels.

The space was dark and appeared to have been a laundry area at one point. Chat's nose wrinkled at the musty smell, and tactfully avoided the corner where the laundry chute from his bedroom ended. Instead, he moved across the space and toward another door on the far wall. Mindful only one of them had night vision, he kept Ladybug's hand in his paw. "The vault is behind here," he said, as he dropped to his knees and repeated his lockpicking action.

"I had no idea you could do that, Chat," Ladybug said.

"Hazard of growing up--" he started to say, and caught himself. The door, fortunately, popped open at that moment, and he pressed it wider so the two of them could enter the bigger space beyond.

Ladybug gasped. The exterior size of the mansion didn't do justice to the size of this subterranean area. Lit dimly by a few spots in the raised ceiling, rows and rows of plastic covered articles of clothing extended in all directions radially from a center core. "This is… amazing…"

Chat seemed distracted as he started down one of the rows. "Every prototype is here. Gabriel doesn't trust them to be too far out of his sight." He paused at an intersection, reading something in the dim light she couldn't see.

He started down a side row, explaining offhandedly, "These are all in order chronologically. What we want to see is down here, I think."

"How…?"

"The labels," Chat said, pointing to a tag she still couldn't read in the semi-darkness.

"I hate that you have night vision," she said.

Oddly, he didn't respond to the jab. Ladybug started to wonder at how badly Chat had been affected by what Adrien had told him. She'd never known him to be so distracted.

They abruptly stopped at an unremarkable rack, and Chat quickly unzipped the package. "Shine your bug light on this," he instructed.

Ladybug clicked her yo-yo open and triggered the flashlight. Instantly, the purple jacket sprung into relief and she nearly gasped again. "That is the spitting image of Hawkmoth's costume after transformation."

"Yes," Chat said. He twisted it around and showed her the cravat. "And this is where the brooch will go."

She looked up at Chat. "He's seriously going to use the jewels? In a fashion show?"

"Apparently." Chat zipped the package shut and replaced it. "Ladybug, this is our best chance to get those jewels back! He's making a huge mistake planning a design around them. He'll have to keep them close at hand as he finializes the design."

"You're certain they are in the safe upstairs?"

"Yes," Chat said.

Ladybug knew Chat was right, but also knew this was likely going to be more than the two of them could handle. "All right," she said. "But I think we're gonna need help…"


	3. Roll Call

Three: Roll Call

_Author's Note: Hiya, its Ic here. Things are just picking up. This chapter was neat to write, it was a lot of fun to imagine how these friends had grown over the years. But meow it's time to get started with the story._

Marinette excitedly knocked on the door, and let the old man escort her in. She glanced at the beige walls, momentarily distracted by the ornate decorations that were plastered across the plain drywall.

"Master Fu, we did it. We found Hawkmoth!" She exclaimed.

He smiled up at her, and poured two cups of tea.

"Wait, Master, did you expect me to come here?" She asked.

He handed her a cup of tea. "Yes, Ladybug. The Kwami are connected to each other in a mystical way that we can't quite understand. Wayzz could feel Tikki and Plagg's excitement, and so I expected a visit from you or A -uh- Chat Noir. Sorry. You'll have to forgive my old brain. I'm nearly 200 years old, you know."

"Wow, that's amazing. You look so young!" Marinette praised. Of course she knew how old he was, he made it a point of telling her regularly, yet every time she acted shocked and it always seemed to brighten his day.

"So what brings you here? Just to inform me, or…"

Ladybug offered a nervous grin. "Well, Chat and I thought it would be beneficial to involve Rena Rouge and Carapace in the heist to reclaim Duusu and Nooroo, along with their Miraculouses."

Fu seemed to cerebrate the idea of giving the two Miraculouses to Ladybug. After several minutes of quiet meditation he spoke.

"And you don't think Queen Bee would be helpful?" He asked seriously.

"Hah. I think Queen Bee would be useful, but not Chloe Bourgeois. It would be better for us to take our chances without her."

Fu accepted the answer, and walked to the old phonograph in the room and typed his secret code. It opened revealing all the miraculouses other than the two used by the heroes and the two in Hawkmoth's control.

"Remember to protect the miraculous and to return them after you have defeated Hawkmoth." He reminded, as he handed her Rena'a necklace and removed Carapace's Miraculous from his wrist.

Ladybug nodded as she accepted them. Now it was time for her to assemble the team.

Ladybug knocked on the door. It had been simple enough to persuade the bodyguards at the entrance of the news station to let her in. After all, if a woman in spotted clothes with super strength asks to be let in, you usually don't deny her entrance. And when she has saved your entire city on a regular basis for the last 10 years, you definitely don't rebuff her.

Now she stood at the dressing room door of her best friend. An all too familiar voice echoed through the room.

"Anne, I'm dressed. If you have my caramel frappe, you are welcome to come in. In fact I would prefer if you hurried up. I'm up for the 4 o'clock news in 20 minutes," she called.

"I think you might have the wrong person in mind," Ladybug replied, cracking the door open and entering the room.

Alya was busy staring at the mirror on the wall, which happened to face the wall perpendicular to the door rather than being across from it. She was busily covering her cheeks with foundation.

"Hey, Mari! Sorry, my makeup artist is trash, and I need to fix some issues that she left. Wait, you're good with makeup."

The spotted heroine stood in paralyzed anguish. She attempted to speak, but couldn't force out words rejecting the claim that she was both Ladybug and Marinette. She hated to lie, and at times it had been necessary, but she felt oddly unnerved today.

Alya appeared to have picked up on the disquietude emanating from room's most recent occupant. She turned her head to look at her friend, and almost immediately her mouth fell, agape as ever.

"Ladybug! I'm so sorry. I thought you were… well, you sounded like… see I… It's dumb, I thought you were my best friend, Marinette. But your voices don't even sound that similar. Too bad, I was going to ask her about her secret boyfriend she's been hiding from me. Sorry, anyways, how can I help you?"

Ladybug allowed herself an imperceivable intake of air. She relished in the moment, grateful to be out of the situation and even more so that she didn't have to pull a "Rossi" on her closest friend.

"Well, as usual, I'm here to give you the fox miraculous… with great power comes great… blah blah blah… the miraculous is like a pair of bowling shoes, you get in trouble if you don't return it when your done," she told Alya. Normally she offered a rather rigid and fixed explanation about granting her the miraculous, but Ladybug allowed herself the indulgence of going off script this once.

"Wait, like now?" Alya clarified.

"Oh, no. We're meeting at the usual place tonight at 18:00 hours. I think this is finally the time," she said ebulliently.

"That we defeat Hawkmoth?" Alya clarified.

Ladybug nodded her head. She considered giving Alya the turtle miraculous to give to her husband, but decided against it. She determined that it was her responsibility to see that Nino got it himself. That and she wanted to tell her friend the good news.

"Madame Cesaire-Lahiffe, the cameras are rolling in 15 minutes," a voice reverberated through the door.

"Well, I had better get going," Ladybug said, running to the door- more out of excitement than urgency.

Ladybug entered the quaint little music store, noticing the little chime the door made as it opened. Nino sat at the cashier's desk, nodding his head, almost certainly listening to music from his headphones while he read a book. He must've been paying more attention than she gave him credit for, because he spoke right away.

"Vinyl is the far left isle, next three are CDs and the last two are sheet music," he informed her.

"I'm actually here for a different reason," she said loudly, though she maintained some level of composure. There were only a couple people in the store, but a scarlet clad heroine was not the kind of person who could stop by a music shop unnoticed.

He pulled off his headphones, though he was still engrossed in his literature. She glanced at the name of it: "Understanding Human Anatomy: The Full Functionality of Our Species".

"Ah, are you studying for something?" She asked, fully knowing the answer.

"No, you know I like to read sciency books for fun, Marinette. Just a little brain teaser."

He looked up to see Ladybug.

"Um, sorry, wrong dudette. I dunno what made me think she was here," Nino apologized.

Ladybug smiled, though she was scolding herself on the inside. Twice in less than two hours, someone had called her by her real name. She had to be careful to disguise her voice in cases where someone heard her before they saw her.

"So… uh, do we have an Akuma outside or something?" he asked, glancing at the customers watching the interaction.

She caught the look and slid the hexagonal miraculous box towards Nino.

"I saw these cute little headphones, and I wanted to buy them," she said rather loudly.

Nino pretended to scan the box. "Wow, this is high quality stuff. Wayzz headphones are my favorite. It'll be 50," he said just as loudly, adding to the act.

She patted her hips, as if looking for a pocket, then sighed. "I seem to have forgotten my money, but I'll bring it by so I can pick it up soon. Could you hold on to them for me in the meantime?"

"We're meeting tonight at 6," she whispered.

Nino, nodded understanding the situation. "The usual place place?"

Their whispers seemed to attract the attention of some curious shoppers, and Ladybug noticed several straining to listen in.

She nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. By the way, did you hear that their new album "Victory Against The Enemy" is being released this week?"

Nino frowned at the random statement, and then his eyes widened as he realized what she meant.

"Wait, really?! I've been waiting for that for years!"

She smiled. "Well, just a few more days."

Adrien was simultaneously confused and ecstatic. He still couldn't believe it. Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth. Hawkmoth was Gabriel Agreste. The man he had loved, but felt a sharp disconnect with had tried to kill him on many occasions. The monster he had hated was the man he had loved and called father.

It was a bit easier to put on a show for Ladybug, but even then, he still had a hunch that she had detected his nervousness. He wasn't sure what to do. He knew the crew would be meeting up at the usual team miraculous hideout in several hours, but he didn't know what to do until then.

As he paced a random rooftop, looking for some way to take his mind off of things, an idea came to his mind.

He could go see his favorite princess.

Without so much as a smidgen of incertitude, Chat hurdled himself off of the building, using his baton to stop his descent and the untimely demise that would have accompanied it. He bounced through the sky, using his now extended staff to vault himself to Marinette's apartment. He was grateful that it included a south facing balcony, though this was not a rooftop one.

As he landed, Marinette let out a startled gasp. She had thought that the balcony and the rays of warm sunlight pouring onto it would have made the perfect place to quietly finish up some designs for the Spring Fashion Show before she met with the team to discuss the plan to bring down Hawkmoth. She had figured it would allow her a safe place to enjoy warmth and fresh air, while avoiding her phone (which she had left inside). What she hadn't counted on was the possibility that her boyfriend would ambush her in the middle of a sketch.

"Chat!" She groaned,"what do you think you're doing?"

He was standing right next to her with an embarrassed smile hanging onto his lips.

"Sorry Ma princesse, I've just been having a bad day, and I thought I'd stop by your place to try and cheer up before I have to pretend to be happy around all my hero friends," he repined.

Instantaneously her expression changed to one of compassion. Her eyes radiated love for her darling Chaton, and it was obvious that she had switched emotions rather quickly. Marinette placed her sketchbook on the folding table she was working at, and stood up.

Chat had turned around to leave when he felt a kind hand on his shoulder. He pivoted to face her, and saw the complete metamorphization of her physiognomy. When he saw her loving nature he burst into tears.

It took Marinette a fraction of a second to realize what had happened, and she responded by pulling her boyfriend into a tight embrace. She moved his head into the crook of her shoulder and allowed the hot tears to drip over her shoulder blade.

Eventually Chat stopped when he noticed his suit was starting to feel moist around his neck.

He looked up, his reddened bleary eyes meeting hers. To his surprise he found a similar moisture spread across the surface of her eyes.

"W-why are you c-crying?" He sniffled softly.

"B-because, my Kitty is hurting, and that makes me sad," she replied with just as much of a sniffle.

In that moment, Chat found he loved Marinette even more than he had thought was possible. It had felt like he loved her more and more with each passing second, but at this time, he felt his love expand infinitely. Here was someone who was the opposite of Hawkmoth.

Instead of a control freak parent, who forced him to be someone he wasn't, and who was emotionally unavailable when Adrien failed to meet his expectations, he found someone who loved him for being his friendly, pun loving self; a girl who would be there for him in the deepest emotional way. She was a girl who was literally willing to cry with him, even though she had no clue what was wrong.

Adrien felt the tears begin to flow again, and Marinette grabbed him tightly.

"What's wrong Kitty?"

"Nothing. This time these are happy tears," he assured her,"I've just never felt so loved by another person in my entire life. It feels nice."

She smiled at that, even if it made her heart ache just a little. "So what was wrong that made you want to come here?" She questioned.

He stopped.

Well, I can't tell her that Gabriel is Hawkmoth and that I feel personally betrayed. Somehow that wouldn't really make sense unless I was suggesting that I had some outside-of-the-suit connection to him. And Mari is smart enough to pick up on that kind of clue.

"I can't tell you yet… but... if everything goes according to plan…"

"Yes, Chat?"

"I'll be able to reveal my identity to you," he smiled nervously.

That caused a chain reaction, as Marinette's tear stained face opened into a blooming smile. It hadn't occurred to her that once they had defeated Hawkmoth they would be able to share their identities. She had relegated herself to only imagining herself with Chat, never getting to know the hidden part of her kitty. And then she realized that she would be able to share her identity with him! The secret had burdened her for a year now. She was her boyfriend's partner, but she couldn't tell him.

Her thoughts were broken by Chat. "By the way, Ladybug knows about us," he said, smiling, and wiping away a tear.

Marinette laughed. "Oh, yeah. How did she take it?"

"Pretty well, actually. It surprised me. And it was a bit of a relief. I was worried that she would be ticked. It actually gives me hope that she won't blow a gasket when I talk to her about propos--"

Chat immediately discontinued his sentence, as red washed over his face.

"Um… I mean when I talk to her about purposefully revealing my identity to you," he recovered, though Marinette saw right through it.

They had been dating for a year now, yet marriage had never come up. Of course each of them thought about it every day. They had said "I love you" to each other for the first time six months ago, though both had felt it before then. And both of them wanted a family, yet they had always danced around the subject, possibly out of fear that a relationship involving secret identities may never work out.

"Um, anyways," he said,"you probably have a lot of important work to do. Can I just sit next to you until I need to leave for my meeting?"

Marinette nodded and Chat pulled up a seat next to hers. He watched as she sketched an intricate design, labeling diagrams that showed every bit of fabric and each stitch. It was always beautiful artwork, and it always put his mind to rest as he watched her. He watched her scribble away at her design book, and pulled out his baton, setting an alarm for half an hour before the meeting.

Marinette usually forgot the outside world when she started to work on a design, but this time she was vaguely aware of a contented purr coming from right next to her. Even in her focused state, a smile graced her lips.

That's my Kitty.


	4. Huddle Up, Team

Four: Huddle Up, Team

Author's Note: Hey y'all, Ic here. Today we have a fun chapter involving some of our favorite characters interacting.Enjoy the calm before the storm!

Ep: Wait, storm? (checks notes) What storm? (calls offscreen) Hey, Ic, there's no storm in the script…!

The alarm began its cacophonous screeching 30 minutes before six. The sound - which resembled the alarm of a nuclear attack warning - sent the hyperconcetrating artist into a spasm, nearly throwing her notebook off the balcony. Her leather clad companion had a similar reaction, nearly hurling himself off the railing.

"Sorry, Mari. I could have sworn I set the alarm to be a soothing lullaby."

"That's ok, Kitty," she said anxiously, denoting in her voice that it was maybe just a little bit less than ok. A brief glance at her notebook showed a stunning dress, and an unfitting line drawn across the whole design.

Chat had a deep suspicion that the klaxons were especially discordant as a sort of passive aggressive note from Plagg to hurry up and get some cheese.

As he offered a heartfelt goodbye, Chat promised himself that he would have a word with Plagg and make it up to Mari.

One kiss later, he was off. His staff let him vault from one rooftop to the next. As he neared the group's base of operations, he opened his baton. 10 minutes till 6.

He was standing on top of Le Grand Paris, enjoying the penthouse suite's balcony view when he heard a resounding thunk.

He turned to see his old friend Chloe, in a Lady Noir outfit, sprawled out on the floor inside the suite.

"Right, Chloe lives here," he chided himself.

A moment later she leapt back onto her feet and hurriedly opened the door. Excitement radiated from her face, and her voice quivered as she spoke.

"Ch-chat, are y-you here to give me the bee Miraculous?" She practically begged.

He managed to shake his head, and watched her nod sadly in reply.

"I didn't think so, but a girl can dream, right?" She said softly.

The air seemed to cool by several degrees, though perhaps that was just the wind. Chat struggled looking for something to say that would lift her spirits without giving her the idea…

"Unless of course you came to confess your undying love for me?!" She said, her head popping back up.

...that he was in love with her.

In the last decade, Chloe had matured… a little. She had learned that she couldn't always get her way, and for the most part she had accepted that. She had even given up her lifelong crush on Adrien. However, the relief that brought was short lived, as Chloe had decided only several months prior that she was wholeheartedly in love with Chat Noir.

In the last 3 months she had faked being abducted by akuma (a convoluted plot that involved a giant mechanical unicorn, 600 kilograms of confetti, and 9 Elvis Presley impersonators), "coincidentally" met him on 3 separate rooftops during patrols, and published 2 love letters to him in the local newspaper.

"Listen, Chloe, I need to tell you something. I have a girlfriend," Chat started.

"Thank you for entrusting me with your problems, Chat. Now just tell me her name and I'll make it look like an accident," she teased in response.kidding

She laughed at that, and Chat joined her less than enthusiastically, while simultaneously praying that she was kidding.

Slowly the laughter died down, and she finally turned to him. A somber depth was in her eyes as she asked a simple question.

"Do you love her?"

"With all my heart," Chat responded, before realizing that it sounded a little cliché.

"Ok, well then… um… I just wanted to say sorry. When I was a teenager I said a lot of mean things about you. I called you Ladybug's sidekick and belittled you. But the truth is you're probably the best guy in all of Paris. I guess what I'm getting at is that I hope that your girl makes you happy. And if she doesn't, there is a Queen Bee who is willing to try her best to fill that role," she gasped, then took his paw and pressed her lips to it, her face instantly turned beet red.

Before Chat could respond, the door slammed shut, and he was again alone on the balcony.

Maybe Chloe has changed. Well, I really hope that she finds a good guy.

After pondering the situation, Chat took a moment to check the time. 5:57

He hurried up to the roof, and carefully used his claws to pick the lock of the door leading to the stairs. With minimal effort, he opened it and snuck down the stairs towards an elevator. He took the next available elevator, and slipped in, grateful that no one else was in it. There he again used his claws, this time to pry open control panel.

He connected a couple wires where it was obvious a button could have been, and he watched the indicator light up, telling him that the next stop was the subway station. He again repeated this action with a couple of wires, causing a shower of sparks to light up the elevator, and simultaneously alerting the floors below that this elevator was out of order. As he reached his destination, he fixed his previous modifications and closed the panel.

He stepped out of the elevator to find Rena Rouge and Carapace sitting at a small table the had set next to the abandoned subway track. The room was illuminated by two elegant chandeliers, with one set of tracks on the south side of the room, and a small platform about 20 metres long by 5 metres wide, made of ornately paved stones. Chat had exited from one of 3 elevators lying on the far north side of the room.

"I still don't get how you can use the elevator when there is no subway button," Carapace complained.

"Why don't you just use the tunnels like the rest of us?" Rena added.

"That's a secret. And I need to CATch your attention, after all, cats loved to be noticed. On a different note, can I ask you guys a question?"

"Shoot," Carapace replied.

"So… um… I have a girlfriend, and--" Chat began

"YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?!" Carapace shouted.

"Tell us everything. Is she a childhood friend? Did you meet by fate? Are you in love? Oh, yes, please tell me you're in love with her?" Rena rapid fired.

"Yes, I have a girlfriend. I can't tell you how we met, but if it is fate, I'll be pleased. And yes, I love her. Completely. Anyways, I messed something up, it's not a big deal, but she was working on something important and I accidentally startled her, and I wanted to find a way to make it up to her. Any ideas from the married couple?" Chat asked.

Though he knew neither of their identities, he was very well aware of their relationship, and he hoped that a good relationship like theirs would bring forth a good way to apologize.

"Oh yeah. Buy her chocolates, the bigger the mistake, the more expensive the chocolates. And give them to her about an hour before you apologize, that way she has had time to be grateful for your seemingly random gift," he said.

A sudden flute strike met his head and he groaned in pain.

"Ouch!"

"Well that's what you get. Here I was thinking that my sweet husband just wanted to surprise me. But it turns out you were just distracting me from your buffoonery."

This statement led to the couple squabbling like they had been married for decades, and also let Chat know that he wasn't getting any help any time soon.

A moment later, the center elevator dinged, and Ladybug exited, a grin on her face.

"Sorry I'm late. But Chat, I figured out how to use the elevator!"

Before she could continue to gloat, Rena turned to her friend and and announced: "Ladybug, guess what? Chat has a girlfriend, and he's in love with her!"

"Yeah, I already knew that," she said nonchalantly, though her cheeks were dust a light shade of pink from the last portion of Rena's claim.

"WHAT?!" Carapace and Rena cried out in unison. The sound reverberated through the tunnel, causing everyone to go quiet for a moment.

"Since when?!" Carapace demanded.

"Oh, yesterday. Kitty and I were talking about it… anyways, how did it come up today?" She asked disapprovingly.

To her surprise Chat beamed, rather than looking down in shame.

"Ladybug! Yes, perfect. I NEED YOU!"

Her cheeks had only begun to recover, but once again they found a rouge tint begin to form.

"M-m-me?"

"Yeah. You have an amazing mind, and you even remind me a little of Ma- my girlfriend. So, long story short, I made a loud noise and made her ruin a project she was working on, and I wanted to find a way to apologize," he explained.

"Oh, it's no big deal. I bet she just erased the line and redrew whatever part of the dress she was working on," she said, trying to appear nonchalant, while simultaneously touched by how thoughtful her kitty had become.

"Redraw? Dress? When did I say any of that?" Chat asked.

Rena and Carapace were both interested as well, and were staring at Ladybug intently.

"Oh… uh… well… I um, I guess I figured that I knew her a little and that seemed like something she would be doing," she managed.

At this point the curious couple were completely lost.

"Wait, so you know who she is?! Is she famous? And wait, does this mean that you two aren't gonna become a thing?" The reporter asked.

"Uh… um, let's get back to why we're here," her friend evaded.

Chat cleared his throat and unrolled a blueprint of Agreste manor.

"When did you get this?" Ladybug asked.

"Oh, I was able to get it from city hall on the way here. I doubt it's complete, but it gives us some kind of visual representation," he explained.

The Crimson Heroine managed to hide her gasp of awe.

When did my sweet little Chaton grow up? It feels like just yesterday he was charging at every akuma in sight, not a single thought in his mind. Wow, I just love him so much.

"Ok, huddle up team. This is our game plan for taking down Hawkmoth," Chat announced, his voice resonating with a sense of authority

Ladybug forced her inner Marinette, who was completely smitten with her boyfriend, to calm down. She knew that now was the time to be serious, though she also knew that even the most minor distraction would send her down a rabbithole of love-tinged tangents.

"Ladybug, would you like to tell the lovestruck wonder couple what we discovered last night?"

She nodded and began,"We learned from a reliable source that Hawkmoth is none other than Gabriel Agreste. He--"

"Wait, but wasn't he akumatized like a long time ago? How could that work? I wonder how that could even be possible?" The resident reporter mused.

Chat shrugged. "I beat Timebreaker with two Ladybugs, fought off Copycat Chat Noir, and have even gone toe to toe with wax replicas of a lot of people I've met before. At this point I'd say that if Hawkmoth wanted to throw us off of his scent, he could. Anyways, let's listen to Ladybug."

Ladybug took the chance to continue, again noting how focused and mature her kitty was.

"Yeah… so, Chat and I went to the mansion to check things out. Gabriel has a secret vault where he keeps articles of clothing. He even has a Hawkmoth suit, which confirmed our suspicions. We believe that he has the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculouses, as well as a book about them, in a safe in his atelier."

"So we're going to go all mission impossible on Agreste Manor?" Carapace asked excitedly.

"That's kinda sexy," Rena added.

Ladybug opened her mouth to protest, but stopped when she heard Chat speak.

"Ok guys, knock it off, we aren't here to discuss your love life," he lectured.

"Ok, then how about yours?" Rena countered,"what is it about this mystery lady that has our favorite tomcat acting so responsible?"

Ladybug repressed a smile. So Alya noticed it too.

"Um… well, I just, I don't think I'm being different…"

"Uh, dude, you are definitely not normal Chat," Carapace added.

"I don't know what you mean," Chat shot back.

Ladybug tried to hold it in, but failed.

"Chat's in love! Chat's in love!" She squealed as the frenzy of flippant friends taunted Chat.

"Ok," he admitted,"I've just been thinking about things for the last few hours. Mar-- my girlfriend deserves the best. I want to be the kind of person she would be proud of, even if she's not here."

As if on queue, the whole room froze.

"Oh."

"Oh."

"Oh."

The chorus of surprised 'ohs' echoed through the cavernous tunnel.

"So you REALLY love her," Rena stated.

"Yeah, and I just wish I could show her how much. I don't think she gets how important she is to me because of all my puns and teasing. I just want to finish this ordeal so I can reveal my identity to her," he sighed.

"Oh, once we beat Hawkmoth we can all reveal our identities, huh?!" Carapace said, as the realization dawned on him.

"That's right," Chat replied wrapping his arm around his friend,"and you and Rena will be the third people I'll tell."

"Third?" He asked.

"Yep. First will be my girlfriend, then Ladybug, they you two. But back to the plan. Hawkmoth has two Miraculouses and the Grimoire. Tomorrow at 6:00 AM, Gabriel will be leaving. Nathalie will be alone. Rena, you'll be responsible to create an illusion of some sort to distract her. Ladybug and I will find a way in the mansion to retrieve the target, between Lucky Charm and Cataclysm we should be able to get it. And Carapace, you'll be nearby watching all of us on cameras we'll all be wearing."

Chat looked at his teammates -- no, he thought, friends -- and smiled a most Chat-like smile. "Tomorrow morning, we'll have finally won.


	5. Vaulting Into Business

Five: Vaulting Into Business

Author's Note: While Ic continues to search for the Bee Miraculous we appear to have misplaced, I'm going to try to distract everyone by posting the next chapter of our adventure. And change ZIP codes so Master Fu can't find me. --ep

Hey, Fu can't be that mad, Ep. After all, he's misplaced one or two of them before.

Chat returned to his apartment after the meeting with Team Miraculous broke up, but after dropping onto his private balcony and rolling out into a crouch in his small bedroom, found he had enough nervous energy that sleep didn't seem like an option. Given the late hour, though, he figured dropping in on Marinette wouldn't be appreciated, either. After setting his baton for a five-thirty wakeup call, he hopped onto his bed and curled up, cat-like, facing out the sliding doors of the balcony and forced his feline eyes closed, willing himself to try and get a few hours rest.

The buzzing of the baton at his back woke him a few hours later, and he stretched luxuriously as he reached for it to mute the alarm. Chat didn't often sleep transformed, but on those rare occasions that had demanded it, he generally felt more refreshed than anything he'd felt as a human. He calculated it was worth the wrath of his kwami in order to be on top of his game.

Grabbing a quick bite in his kitchenette, he leapt back out into the pre-dawn to make his way to the rendezvous. Chat wasn't surprised to find Ladybug already waiting as he dropped down beside her with a rubbery thump. "Milady," he said as he stood and performed his traditional bow-and-a-kiss.

Now that she was dating him, Ladybug found his act more charming than she had back when she assumed he was simply - and meaninglessly - flirting with her. And though Chat might have been in a relationship with her alter-ego, she was well aware of the high regard (and high feelings) he still had for Ladybug. It was an interesting tightrope she knew she was walking with her boyfriend, and one that they might be able to dispense with should they be successful at the mansion. "Kitty," she said fondly. "Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this? Today?"

"Yes," he replied, his masked green eyes flashing. She could again see pain behind them, and wondered once more just how close his relationship with Adrien Agreste was; the situation seemed to be affecting him almost at a personal level. "This is the best window for us; if we grab the jewels and the Grimoire, it'll put an end to everything before Gabriel Agreste gets back tonight."

Ladybug started to reply but held off when she saw Chat's ears swivel, knowing he'd picked up on the approach of their teammates. A moment later, Rena and Carapace dropped to the roof, and she caught Chat's warm smile when Carapace helped Rena to her feet. She knew their alter-egos, of course; both she and Adrien had been at their wedding, though now that she thought about it, found herself a little sad that Chat hadn't been there to enjoy the moment as well.

Maybe, when this is all over, she thought, everyone can know everything. Finally.

"Okay," Chat said. "Look, guys," he said, stepping back a bit. "This is quite possibly the day we've all been waiting for. I… I'm insanely glad the three of you are here to help."

Ladybug thought she saw Chat's eyes glistening. This was definitely affecting him more than she realized; after this was over, she would need to have a long talk with him to better understand why. "We'll always be with you, Chat," she said, placing a hand on his bicep.

He put a paw over it and smiled back at her. "Thanks, bugaboo." He moved to pull his baton from the small of his back. "All right, cameras, everyone," he said as he twisted the base of his baton twice until it clicked. The bottom popped open and dropped out a small, black-and-green circular disc that he pressed to his chest.

Carapace just stared at him. "How did you do that?" he asked, slack jawed.

Chat shrugged. "The baton tends to have what I need, when I need it," he offered as he watched Ladybug tap her yo-yo twice; it opened and she pulled out red-and-black polka dotted disc.

Rena frowned. "Some of us carry musical instruments," she pointed out.

Rolling his eyes, Chat stepped to the fox's side and twisted the base of her flute slightly. Out popped a brown-and-orange disc, which he bent over and picked up to hand to Rena. "Madame," he smiled.

Nonplussed, Rena pressed her camera to her torso. "We need some sort of training program. Or a manual, at the very least."

Chat thought it best not to mention the built-in user guide the Cat Phone came with and moved on. "We're two blocks from the mansion," he started. "Ladybug and I will enter the mansion and determine where the assistant is; once we know that, Rena, you'll need to whip up your mirage to get her out."

"Where do you think she'll be?" Ladybug asked.

"I know that--rather, Adrien told me that she's normally behind her desk in Gabriel's office no later than seven each day. The safe we need to hit is in that space, so that is where Rena will need to focus." His masked emerald eyes scanned his friends and teammates. "Ready?"

They nodded and a moment later were all moving toward their positions.

Chat led Ladybug back to the rear of the mansion, dropping into a crouch in the alleyway and squinting slightly at the sun as it began to appear in the sky. Ladybug slid in beside him, and the two crept toward the door they'd used a few days earlier. As before, Chat used a claw to pop the lock, and the two scuttled into the damp darkness beyond.

As he closed the door behind him, Chat reached out for Ladybug's arm. "The plan indicated there was a servant staircase originally in what Agreste is using as the vault," he said, which was true to a point. It was also one of the secret passages Adrien had used with regularity to escape the mansion. "There is a hidden door into the atelier, assuming it's still there. Hold my arm and I'll use my night vision to get us through to it."

"Okay," Ladybug said as Chat whisked them into the darkness further. To his credit, he kept her out of harm's way; the dark forms of the rows and rows of patterns loomed at her, but he expertly navigated them toward the far end of the space.

Once there, she felt more than heard him press a feline ear to the wall. "It's empty," he said, before triggering something. She heard a mechanical snap, and felt a tiny gust of air as a panel popped open; it may have even been slightly lighter where the stairwell was.

Chat pulled her along. "Step… and step…" he said, helping her up. She felt the pattern and followed him more nimbly as they climbed. The space was getting lighter as they climbed, and she saw the reason as the stairs stopped and became some sort of flat landing. Much like a fine hotel, there were servant holes spaced at regular intervals; little lenses that presumably were hidden in the main space, but allowed the servant to determine if the secret door was clear to be opened.

She could see the vague outline of her partner, who'd pressed a masked eye to the first one they came to. "Yep," he whispered. "There she is."

The tiny cameras tied to the earwigs they'd also put in, and Chat heard Carapace. "Can you get me an image of the atelier?" he asked. "I've got the three of you up on my hololens, but all I can see from the two of you is dark, dark, dark."

"Sure," Chat said. He popped the camera disc off his costume and held it up to the hole.

"Ah," Carapace said. "Rena, she's in the quadrant closest to the entrance to the atelier. Close to the window fronting the driveway."

"Got it," they all heard. "Coming up with my special mirage now," Rena added.

"I almost wish I could see it," Chat lamented.

"Hah!" Carapace said. "For once, I'm the one in the catbird seat."

Ladybug didn't need to see him to know Chat was rolling his eyes. "Let me know when you're ready," Chat whispered instead.

"Oh, I think you'll know," Rena chuckled.

True to her word, Chat watched as Nathalie's head snapped up; a moment later, she dashed from her desk and threw open the door to the atelier. "She's left the space," he confirmed.

"And... now she's outside," Rena said. "I think I can give you a good five minutes. But you'd better hurry."

"Cataclysm!" Chat cried, and then pressed his hand to the portal. It had barely dissolved before he launched himself into the space beyond.

"I thought this was a stealth operation," Ladybug chided as she landed beside him.

"It is," he smiled. "You'll fix it later."

She rolled her eyes. "Lucky Charm!" she cried, tossing her yo-yo into the air. In a burst of light, a slim flathead screwdriver dropped into her hand.

Chat arched a masked eyebrow at the polka-dotted tool. "Really?"

Smiling, Ladybug flipped the tool over and swiftly slid it under the edge of the painting of Adrien's mother. It took a few tries, but at length she managed to hit the microswitch her Lucky Vision had shown her, causing the portrait to swing open. She stepped aside with a flourish, revealing the safe proper. "Your turn!"

Chat stared at the safe, feeling his pulse start to race. This was truly the moment; the one he had dreamed about for years. Finally, finally, he could see the end of the road. He raised his ring hand again. "Cataclysm!" he cried, feeling the power rush to his fingertips once more.

He heard Ladybug gasp behind him. "Chat - how did you do that?"

"I--" he started, only to be cut off by Rena.

"Uh oh," they both heard in their ears. "Nathalie is getting a bit too--whoops! She's gone and touched it." Rena paused. "Guys… uh…. you might want to move faster."

"Yeah," Carapace chimed in. "Nathalie looks like someone stole her purse." He paused. "Check that. More like someone who stole her entire retirement account."

Pressing his paw to the safe door, Chat watched with some small satisfaction as it turned brown and crumbled to dust. It was short-lived however, when he was finally able to look into the interior. As expected, the Grimoire he'd stolen from his father years earlier was there, along with a smattering of smaller items; he reached in and pulled the book out, handing the ancient text to Ladybug.

Then, with increasing fury, he started to remove item after item out of the safe. Pens, pins, photos of people he didn't recognize, maps, tickets to shows that had taken place a decade ago; the more he pulled out, the angrier he got. It wasn't until he felt Ladybug's hand on his arm that he realized he'd been growling, oblivious to Rena's growing alarm in his ear.

"We've got to go, now," Ladybug hissed, then without waiting for his response, she tugged him toward the servant's door.

For a moment, he refused to budge, willing the two missing Miraculous jewels to appear. But they were gone; intuitively, he knew that they would not be on the grounds, should they try to continue their search. Clearly, Hawkmoth was unwilling to leave without having them close at hand. Reluctantly, he leapt into the space behind Ladybug, who quietly called out: "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Her million brilliant helpers appeared, restoring the safe door and closing the painting over it; a fraction of a second later, the door re-appeared, plunging the hideaway space back into semi-darkness. Several heartbeats later, Chat watched Nathalie burst back into the space, eyes wild.

That caught him a bit; normally, she was cool as a cucumber, but clearly she knew something had happened. Despite Ladybug trying to pull him away from the small window, he watched as Nathalie moved deliberately through the space, examining everything before winding up at the painting. For a long, long moment, he thought maybe they had escaped detection; then, amazingly, Nathalie pressed several fingers into spots on the painting, causing it to swing open.

"Uh oh," Chat said quietly. Of course she would know the combination, he thought as she watched her punch it into the keypad.

Nathalie urgently pulled the safe door open and then slammed it shut a moment later, whirling on heel and looking directly at the hidden servant door. It was only then that Chat saw the peacock pin on her lapel, and realized they truly needed to get out of there. As he turned away from the small window, the bright flash of transformation temporarily lit the space, and Chat worried he'd dallied a bit too long.

Grabbing Ladybug, he surprised her by launching upwards, taking the unseen steps two at a time. Up and up they went, until he burst through another door. Ladybug immediately recognized Adrien's bedroom, a space she'd been in a few times before. It had the air of a little-used guest room, now that he was living on his own. Still, as Chat hurried her across the wide open space that had once housed his couch, gaming system and from time to time a grand piano, she could still pick up touches of her friend. An old movie poster from the Ladybug and Chat Noir animated film where he'd done the voice acting for Chat hung next to a lifesize replica of Ladybug; she'd never known how badly Adrien had crushed on her back in high school.

Well, she mentally corrected, not Marinette. Ladybug.

Chat tugged her by the arm around what little furniture remained, some covered in white cloth, and toward the tall windows, his ears flicking backward from time to time. "She made the wrong call and went down," he said with a small trace of satisfaction, "but she'll correct that quickly."

Ladybug nodded as Chat smashed one of the tall panes glass with his baton, the shards crashing with a crystallic shimmering to the tile floor of the room. Privately, Chat smiled; for all the years he'd been trapped in that space, bursting through those windows to freedom had been one of his favorite fantasies. He found himself relishing in the tiny tinkling of the glass.

Wrapping a paw around his partner, he made to toss her through the window when the secret panel exploded into the space; Mayura leapt through, landing a few meters from them, brandishing her fan and looking every bit as menacing as any other villain they had ever faced.

Chat dropped Ladybug and spun his baton; Ladybug tensed next to him.

"Return what you have stolen," Mayura said in cold tones reminiscent of Nathalie.

"I believe that is our line," Ladybug said, trying hard not to sound rattled. The quiet menace that was Mayura was hard to ignore.

Without saying another word, Mayura tossed her sharp-edged fan at Ladybug while flipping away in the other direction. Chat dove into his partner, tackling her to the ground and covering her with his back; the fan, flipping end-over-end, grazed his costumed back in two paces, exposing first skin and then red welt of blood. Ignoring the pain, Chat flipped around and snapped his baton into catarangs, hurling both at the boomeranging fan.

One catarang hit home with a metallic clang, sending the fan careening into the movie poster, where it buried itself in the wall. Backflipping up to the loft that still held his collection of CDs, Chat held out his paws for the returning parts of his baton, which he deliberately snapped back together.

Ladybug leapt up to join him, somehow still clinging to the Grimoire. Together, they faced down Mayura, who was back to standing in the center of the room. Just as deliberately, Mayura walked to the poster and began to pry her fan out of the woodwork. "Return--" she started.

Ignoring Mayura, Chat raised his paw. "Cataclysm!" he cried, and then, grabbing Ladybug, ran along the tall bookcases containing the discs. Running his paw along the edge of each, the CDs were freed from their enclosure and rained down upon the main space below. Mayura frantically yanked one final time at her fan, and then backflipped her way out of harm's way.

Chat lowered a shoulder and smashed through another of the hidden servant doors, then dragged Ladybug up a winding staircase that was hidden in the narrow corridor. Ladybug had little time to ponder at how many of these hidden servant hallways were in the mansion; even less time to wonder how Chat had managed to use his Cataclysm not just once, but now three times in less than an hour before they burst into another space.

This appeared to be some sort of guest room; the heavy dust-coated furniture spoke to a long period of disuse, and Ladybug stifled a series of sneezes as Chat made a beeline for the grand arched windows. She could see they were now on the third floor of the massive mansion, an area she had never been in; Chat, though, knew the space far more intimately than she'd expected. Despite the dire situation, Ladybug smiled, once more realizing her kitty had worked overtime to memorize those plans he'd obtained.

No question, her partner had grown into his role.

Extending his baton, he again smashed the windows; this time, he didn't wait to hurl his partner out into the early morning sunshine. Ladybug was ready for it; one hand around the Grimoire, she used the other to lasso a chimney with her yo-yo and sail away from the mansion. Chat was right behind her, carefully keeping watch to see if Mayura followed. As they made it over the first rooftop, he chanced another glance backward and thought he saw her blue-tinged face watching them from the remains of the window; she didn't seem inclined to pursue, but he also was unsure if she'd send one of her feathers out after them, either. Chat hoped she'd want to assess the damage they'd inflicted more than dealing with them; he assumed prudence would demand she call in Hawkmoth to handle this turn of events, anyway.

"Chat's out of the bag," he muttered over their open communications channel. "Rena, Cap, you'd better make a run for it. We'll regroup as planned tonight."

"Did you get everything?" This was from Rena.

As they hurled themselves over another rooftop, Ladybug answered. "Only part of it," she said. "Hawkmoth is one step ahead of us; we're gonna need a new plan." She paused, looking over her shoulder at her partner and the haunted expression he was wearing. "What's worse, Hawkmoth will know what we're up to, now…"


	6. Back to the Drawing Board

Six: Back to the Drawing Board

_Author's Note:_

_Ep: Where do you want me to put these materials? And do you really think we can fake out Master Fu with a paper mache Miraculous?_

_Ic: Trust me, Ep, it'll work. It worked with the other Miraculous until I was able to find the origina-- I mean, I have a feeling he'll believe it._

As the quartet made their way away from the mansion, they stopped at what appeared to be an abandoned parking garage.

"Hey guys, so we got this," Ladybug said defeatedly, as she held up the Grimoire.

"What about the other two Miraculouses?" Rena asked, knowing the answer.

"They weren't there," Chat said bitterly. He continued to talk as he walked to the stairway.

"That stupid so…" His words faded into an indistinguishable echo as he left the room.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go talk to him. I'll message you about a follow up plan later," Ladybug apologized.

They nodded and Ladybug walked towards the area where Chat had headed.

"...ing kidding me! How did he know. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid," he shouted at the concrete stairs, as if they were to blame.

"Hey, Kitty, you okay?" his friend said gingerly.

He turned to her, revealing tear stained eyes and gritted teeth. Instantly his anger melted, filling the remainder of his face with hopeless agony.

"I-I'll never be able to tell her," he whimpered, his voice so soft that his partner just barely heard him.

"Tell me about it?" She asked, sitting down next to where he was sprawled out.

Chat sniffled, trying to pull himself together. Ladybug looked at him, trying to imagine what he was like without the mask on. She desperately wanted to yank it off there and then and declare that she was his one and only Marinette, his Princess. Of course, magic would stop the first from occurring, and the smallest amount of common sense would stop Marinette from revealing her identity.

As she continued to think about it, Chat finally mustered the strength to speak.

"Well, I'm in love with my best friend," he began, sending a warm pulse through Marinette's body,"but I don't know how she feels about me… I mean she says she loves me, and I believe her. But…"

The next sentence seemed to catch in his throat, which set Ladybug afire. He struggled to explain his darkest fear, while she internally begged him to explain what that caveat was.

Silence filled the cavernous stairwell, and both were sure their hearts could be heard from the entire vicinity. Finally the panicked Marinette side of Ladybug burst out.

"BUT WHAT?! Do you think that she's not not good enough for you? Does she need to try harder to reach your level? Or is she doing too well? Does she need to fail more often? Do you realize that you don't love her, and you hoped that she would be less mad if you saved Paris before you broke up with her?" Every fear she had had since they began dating seemed to stumble out of her mouth.

As she waited, eyes glued to her partner, he offered a puzzling response.

"Gghghhghghg!" Spilled out of his throat, a sound that reminded Ladybug of an actor who was dying and coughing up massive amounts of blood.

When he looked up, she saw tears once again streaming down his face, and a grin emblazoned on his mouth. It took her a moment to realize that he was in the middle of some guffawing-sob, long enough that he recovered enough to try and speak.

"N-no…," he gasped," th-that's exactly wrong," he sputtered.

"So why'd you laugh?" She demanded.

"Well…"

"Out with it!" She insisted.

"Um… you were so cute. You reminded me of Marinette for a second," he confessed.

Her cheeks reddened as she cursed herself for letting her other persona escape.

"Oh. Haha. Am I really like her?" She asked.

"More than you know. Actually, that's the reason I fell in love with her. I've always known what kind of girl I wanted to make my wife… and…" Chat stopped, instantly realizing what he was saying and how it could be construed.

"I-I mean, not that I was ever planning on marrying you, LB. It's just you're both my type," he recovered.

"Oh? I kinda thought that Marinette and I were polar opposites," she argued.

Chat smiled. "You know, I used to think that too, but then I realized that she just hides it. You would openly challenge an akuma, but Marinette has stood up to Chloe. You come up with plans, and everyone knows you're a natural leader, but Marinette was voted class president in high school, just because she knew how to help everyone. You comfort akuma victims, and she comforts the people around her that she sees suffering. I think seeing the qualities I admired the most about you manifested in a casual day-to-day fashion was really what made me realize how much I loved her."

"So… what's wrong? You love her, and she loves you?"

"No, I love her, and she loves CHAT. But what about the other guy? She might just think he is some sweet dorky friend. Or she could be annoyed that he was Chat. Or she could idolize him and forget Chat,"he said.

"I would never!"

The words hung in the air for just a moment.

"I'm going to talk to you as if i were Marinette, ok?" She said weakly, which Chat accepted with a nod.

"Chat, we've been dating for…" Ladybug froze, pretending she didn't know how long to the day.

"A year," he added.

"A year. And you need to know that I love you in a deep emotional level. You've become my best friend, and someone I can always count on. If you stay like that, there is no one behind the mask that could scare me away, or hijack my love for my Kitty… or something like that," she said, playing off her own heartfelt emotions.

Chat smiled at her. "Thanks Ladybug. Now we just have to figure out how to play this."

He stopped for a minute before a wicked grin appeared on his face.

"What? Why do you have a Cheshire Chat grin?"

"Well, I just realized that Gabriel is too arrogant to change his plans. He won't drop out of the fashion show, and he won't quit using the Miraculouses just because some heroes broke into his home. And this show is a big deal. So big, in fact, that they have rules to prevent tampering and cheating. It says that they all need to keep their submissions in a heavily guarded vault 48 hours before the show," he finished, which placed a matching grin on Ladybug's face.

"So this should be easy?" She asked.

"Well no. The security at this place will make Agreste Manor's heist look like we stopped at Costco for samples.

"So this is going to be hard. Will we need extra help?"

"I was thinking we would. I think Marinette would be willing to help. Adrien might be able to help a little, though I bet his dad is super suspicious of him; he did give us rather detailed information about Gabriel's house. And I know someone else who might be able to help us. Can you get the team to meet at the usual place at 5 pm? I'll even bring food… and an old friend."

Ladybug looked at him, searching for an explanation, but gave up when she found none.

"Alright, I can do that."

"Cool. Now if you don't mind I'm gonna go see the love of my life," he responded.

Ladybug's cheeks reddened only for her whole face to pale.

"Uh… Chat. your eyes are red and you look like a mess. Maybe take a shower and relax for a bit so she doesn't worry."

"And so she has time to get home before you," she thought.

"Good call. See you tonight!"

As Chat raced for his shower, Ladybug made a dash for her apartment, taking an ever so quick detour at the Dupain-Cheng's Bakery.

As she landed on her balcony, she slipped into her room and began to arrange a text. She erased it a couple times, wanting to avoid sounding pessimistic, but also dodge sounding condescending. Sometimes being a leader was hard.

Finally she decided on a message.

To: Rena Rouge, Carapace

From: Ladybug

We've got an idea of how to continue. Meet at the usual place at 5 tonight. And don't eat, Chat is bringing dinner.

As she detransformed, she heard a thud on the balcony.

Chat entered, clutching a single rose and smelling strongly of cologne.

"Hello Purrrincess. It's been furever since I've seen that beautiful face," he said, simultaneously handing her the rose, and scooping her into a hug.

She smiled. "Yeah. I missed you too."

As Chat leaned in for a kiss, he stopped just short of her mouth. Smiling, he whispered, "I know your Ladybug secret."

Marinette fell backward, and cursed her clumsiness while at the same time enjoying the relief of not having to look him in the eye.

That relief, however, was short lived, as Chat caught her had pulled her close again.

"I-I don't know what talking about you are… I mean, I don't know what you're talking about."

He let out a playful chuckle. "Mari, its me. You don't have to pretend."

She sighed. "What gave it away?"

"When Ladybug told me to take a shower, I figured she needed to buy time. And I figured that she was going to stop and see you. What did you guys talk about?" He asked sweetly.

"Oh...oh… Yes-- we met. Ladybug was in my apartment. Right. Haha. That is the only logical conclusion. Yeah… she just let me know what happened today. She brought up that it was hard on you, and that you needed a little extra affection today."

Chat raised his right eyebrow questioningly.

"Wait, are you trying to do the eyebrow raise that the space elf guy from the old movies you like… uh… Mr Sprock?"

A grin broke out across his face. "How dare you call Mr. SPOCK a 'space elf'. He is a Vulcan. And they aren't 'old' movies, they're classics."

"Anyways, Kitty… I cancelled my work until your meeting tonight, so I can spend time with you. You know, because I love you."

"Enough to watch 'The Search for Spock' with me?" He beamed.

Marinette held up her tablet and a bowl of croissants. "Enough to watch at least 8 hours worth of Spock and Rider and Kirt, and Mr Worp."

Chat looked at the tablet and realized that she was ready to watch any Star Trek movie, TV show, or special, she even had the animated series ready. He smiled, too stunned by her cuteness to correct her misnaming Riker, Kirk, and Worf. And then his nose detected them.

He turned to her excitement in his eyes. "A-are they…?"

Her radiant smile liquified his heart, and for a moment he didn't care if Hawkmoth was free, captured, or dead. All that mattered was the Princess.

"Yes," she said, breaking his train of thought, " 3 with passion fruit jam, and 3 Belgian chocolate croissants."

And so, for the next 8 hours the couple happily chatted, watched heroes of the Enterprise(s), and munched on treats. Chat fought the temptation to sleep. But found it rather hard after such a hard day. When Mari gently laid his head on her lap, he gave in, and welcomed a short catnap.

As the Feline hero rested, he awoke to warm, soft fingers softly running over his head. Consciousness slowly trinkled across his mind, like an old computer struggling to load.

"Kitty, I promise as soon as we beat him, I'll tell you everything. After all, I love you more than you can understand."

Chat smiled at the dream whisper. He knew it wasn't reality, after all, Mari was horrible at keeping secrets. But he still delighted at the sound of the final line.

I love you more than you can understand.

Even if he had only heard it in a half-dazed dream, he begged the words to be true.

Meanwhile Marinette panicked as he began to wake up. Chat opened his eyes lazily and smiled up at her.

"I just had the most amazing dream. You told me that you loved me more than I could understand. Also something mysterious about a secret or something. But I didn't care about that as much. Haha, even if you had a secret, I would love you forever."

The warmth that always seemed fill Marinette's aura seemed to burn even brighter, and Chat relished in that ethereal feeling. Whatever he said, he knew it had made Marinette happy, and that made him happy.

As if to prove the point, she pressed her mouth to his very drowsy lips, and showed him how much she cared. As she pulled away. She led her right hand rest on his cheek and kindly stroked her thumb across his jawline.

"Well, Kitty. It's true. I do love you, and it is more love than I can express to you right now. As for the mystery… well, if there were something mysterious about me, it would ruin it to tell you, wouldn't it," she said with a wink.

Chat thanked whatever being in the universe that was responsible for luck. He couldn't have found a more perfect girl for himself if he had a hundred years to try.

"You know, I would love to spend the rest of the day guessing what secrets you might have, but I do need to get going now ma Princesse," he groaned, looking at his baton.

She looked at him softly, using her eyes to beg him to stay, all while knowing that she would leave a few minutes after him.

"I really need to go," he whispered, and only then did she realize that she was holding on to him rather tightly.

As she released, she offered a final, and rather deep, kiss to her hero.

In the flash of an eye he was off, and Marinette counted the moments until she would see him again.

When she knew he had been gone 5 minutes, she quickly transformed herself, and leapt into the Parisian horizon.

Just a few kilometers ahead of her, Chat was adoring the same skyline. He had just collected the extra miraculous and the dinner he had promised: a large tupperware container of spaghetti (gluten free, with 3 containers of sauce: pesto, alfredo, and tomato, along with fresh parmigiano reggiano and meatballs) stuffed into a backpack by a local chef who owed him a favor. As he reached Le Grand Paris, he climbed to the penthouse balcony and knocked on the glass.

He waited for a moment, then knocked again. Chat sighed. Maybe Chloe just wasn't home. Hs was kicking himself for assuming she would be there when she opened the glass door. She was in a bathrobe, her hair soaking wet. A grin adorned her face as she spoke.

"I don't suppose you're here to confess your undying love to me and invite me to dinner… or give me the bee Miraculous. But I'm still happy to see you Chat. So what does bring here?"

A soft laugh escaped his lips. "Well actually I was going to give you this," he held up a Miraculous box,"and invite you to dinner with the rest of team Miraculous."

"Oh. Totally, I'll be the-- um wait, when?"

Checking his watch he responded. "In 35 minutes."

A mischievous smile spread across her lips. "Well, I'll have to look my best, so I need to finish my shower. In 35 minutes it'll be tough, but it might be possible to be ready in that time… I might be able to go a little faster if a certain alleycat were to help me wash off in the shower."

Chat nearly choked on his breath. "Kuh hhh huh, oh uh… um… well I mean, Chloe don't get me wrong. We still need you, but I am definitely in love with Marinette… I mean my girlfriend! I mean…"

Chloe's mouth hung open. "Y-you mean Dupain-Cheng? I heard a rumor that you had saved her a time or two in the past, but I didn't think…"

He nodded. "Yeah. But please, promise me you won't tell anyone?"

She accepted, and he handed her the Miraculous.

"We actually meet close to you. Under the hotel is an unfinished subway station. If you go to the elevator, you can open the panel and cross a couple of red and blue wires near the bottom to reset the elevator electronics and It'll display as out of order on all floors for about 30 seconds until it resets. Just above them are two black wires that look like they should connect to a button. Cross them to access the station. And while everyone knows who you are, it'll look more professional if you show up as Queen Bee, so transform in the elevator."

She nodded, absorbing every word of instruction.

With that, Chat left, leaving her to complete her tasks.

Chloe stopped as she opened the door to her balcony.

"Wait, if I use the Miraculous, I won't have to do my hair," she said to herself.

Ladybug appeared on the balcony next to her old rival, curious.

"Chloe. Did I just see Chat give you a Miraculous?" Ladybug asked.

"Yeah. And I have a meeting with you in half an hour. Wait, since you're early, would you look at this painting I've been making."

"Sure."

Chloe disappeared and returned, clutching a canvas painting. She handed it to Ladybug who observed the artwork.

The surroundings looked like the banks of the Seine, with blue skies and a golden sun above. Swinging from a tree swing, Carapace was about to make a major belly flop. Rena was on the bank, pointing and laughing. Chat was swimming in the river, and the forefront of the painting Ladybug had her arm wrapped around Queen Bee.

"Wow. This is amazing, not only is this amazing art, but you got all my spots right. Wait… actually, this spot's off," she noted as a beam of light covered her.

In a moment Marinette Dupain-Cheng stood where Ladybug once was. Chloe placed a dainty hand to her mouth, not a word able to escape it.

Both women stood frozen in time. The French air tasted different, almost stale. Even the light seemed to fade. Finally Chloe spoke.

"I am so, so, so sorry," she apologized. Hot tears streamed down her face, a testament to her sincerity.

Marinette gave a warm, yet awkward smile.

"What for?"

"I tortured you at Dupont, and at the same time I idolized you. I tried to keep Adrien from you, and even just now I was flirting with your boyfriend -who by the way is totally in love with you- and all the while you have tolerated me as Marinette and befriended me as Ladybug," she confessed.

Marinette, against her own expectations, wrapped her arms around Chloe. "It's ok. I understand. It's alright. It took you a while to learn, but you have something you didn't before. Today you've become a better, wiser Chloe. If you want, you can use what you learned be better yourself even more. You could become a kinder person too.

Chloe nodded. "Sounds good Ladybug. Now maybe we can feed your Kwami and head to the meeting?"

She nodded and with that they prepared to meet with their friends.

At five minutes before five, the elevator opened to reveal Ladybug and Queen Bee.

Ladybug strode into the room, attempting to exude confidence with every step. She ignored her nervousness, and the fact that she entered with Queen Bee helped give her audience a shock and awe effect.

"Ok,crew, we've gathered you here because Chat found out from a reliable source that Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth. We have plans to free his Kwami Noo--"

Queen Bee looked skeptical as she spoke,"Wait. Who is this 'reliable source?'"

Ladybug managed to sneak a glance at Chat, as if to ask for permission to reveal his informant.

Chat cleared his throat. "That would be a friend of mine... Adrien Agreste."

A look of excitement washed over the striped heroine's face at the mention of her beloved childhood friend. To everyone's surprise her smile seemed genuine, even warm.

"You know Adrikins?! I can't believe--" she said, before fading away,"sorry go ahead."

"Anyways, we didn't find the Miraculouses in Gabriel's safe even with Adrien's help. Chat and I have been trying to figure out how to get Gabriel's Miraculous. Since we know Gabriel will be using it as a piece in one of his latest designs at the Spring Fashion Show, we will have another chance. If we can sneak in there together, we might have a way of getting it. But we are each going to need to find a way in as our civilian selves. Chloe, I don't think you'll have any problems as you are the mayor's daughter."

Queen Bee looked a little hurt, but nodded.

"I also have a way in," Ladybug added to try and comfort Chloe.

"Me too," Carapace chimed.

"Same," came from Rena.

"As do I," Chat added.

Queen Bee looked at the group with a gleam in her eye. "Also Adrikins is doing a show there, so if we need any behind the scenes help, I can ask him... Aaand there is this girl... Alya Cesaire, she was in some of my old school classes. She is a famous reporter, and a massive Ladybug fanatic, and a pretty intelligent girl. I bet if you asked her to come, she would totally be willing to help."

At the last comment Ladybug and Rena Rouge exchanged a glance.

"G-great Idea, I'll talk to Alya," Ladybug said nervously.

"Awesome! But by the way, if you tell her I gave her a compliment, I will hurt you. I may be nice now. But I don't want everyone to know that." Chloe smiled. Ladybug was fairly certain that she wouldn't in fact hurt her, but she nodded nonetheless.

Chat, seeing Chloe help decided to add his own thoughts. " Hey, my girlfr... I mean my friend Marinette is entering this year's show."

Carapace, Rena, and Queen Bees' mouths dropped. The first two surprised by the new information, and the last by Chat's brazen claim. Ladybug tried to look upset, but was barely hiding a smile.

"You're dating Marinette?! As in the designer 'Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Rena confirmed.

"Um…," he grumbled scratching his head, "yeah... I started to stop by her place after patrols 5 or 6 years ago. She would offer pastries and we would talk about our love live-- about things. Over the last year we got really close... so um... basically I'm dating a girl who has no clue who I am under the mask."

"Awww." Came from Rena and Carapace. Queen Bee smiled a bit more mischievously.

LB tried to sound stern. "Kitty, I hope you know that dating civilians puts them in danger--"

"But--" he began, hoping to point out that she already chewed him out for that.

Suddenly her tone softened," BUT, you have kept it a secret for quite a while, and I'm happy you found a girl that makes you happy."

It wasn't more than a second later that the group were chattering about Chat Noir dating Marinette.

"So how far have you two gotten? I imagine you get pretty kissy-kissy when you meet up?" Queen Bee teased.

Suddenly, Chat thought of a way to return to the correct conversation. "Oh, also, we know the DJ who is going to be there. Maybe someone who knows Nino... I can't remember his last name," he lied," could ask him to be ready to help out?

Ladybug took a moment to pontificate, "Ok, um so how about this. Queenie asks Adrien to help. I'll ask the Ladyblogger, and Rena can ask Nino, since she has saved him a few times? If I recall he gave you his number a couple years ago."

Queen Bee beamed at the affectionate nickname while Rena shot Carapace a seductive glance.

"Yeah, I think I could convince him to help," she asserted with a sneaky smile on her face.

"Um… you forgot Marinette," Chat pointed out.

Ladybug blushed in embarrassment. "Oh right, I don't know why I did that. Chat, obviously you'll be the best candidate to ask her. We'll all meet back here tomorrow to find out if everyone is on board, and plan how we are going. We only have days until the show begins."

Carapace looked at his shell thoughtlessly. "Hey guys, we have cell reception, why don't we call them now…"

It was only then that he realized it may be difficult for his wife to call him in front of everyone. But it was too late. Each hero was worried that shooting down Carapace's seemingly innocent request could be suspicious, and so everyone nodded their heads.

The heroes all headed to different corners of the room, Carapace and Rena Rouge sharing one. As calls began, some pretended to make calls while answering, and others faked the call entirely.

Queen Bee Called Adrien, who had developed the habit of carrying his smartphone in his suit's pocket.

He answered, and upon hearing her request agreed, and let her know she could let him know the details when the heroes had planned everything.

Rena turned to Carapace. "Babe, are you cool helping for a secret mission? I'll owe you a favor," she teased.

He nodded while she held her head up to her flute, pretending that the conversation wasn't face to face.

Across the room, Ladybug ventured a glance at Alya, who nodded in understanding. Then she waited for Chat's call. Her yoyo began to buzz and she answered it. With just a bit of Ladybug Luck and a dash of magic, Tikki had helped her figure out how to transfer calls from her cell phone to her yoyo.

"Hi Kitty, are you done with your super secret meeting?" She asked sweetly, remembering to keep her voice down.

"Not quite princess. Actually, I had a question for you?"

"What's up?"

"So… well… would you help me save Paris?" He asked.

"How?"

"Well, Hawkmoth will be at the Fashion Show you're going and we need all the help we can get. I can tell you about the details later, but can we count on you to help?"

"...Yes. I'll be there for you Kitty, always."

"Ok, thanks Princess. I love you more than all the stars in the sky. See you soon."

"Bye, I love you too."

As the call ended, he heard the other heroes snorting and holding in laughter. Apparently they had snuck across the room to eavesdrop on his call.

"More than all the stars in the sky," Carapace giggled,"dude, she's got you good."

Rena nodded in agreement.

"I thought it was kinda cute," Ladybug interjected.

"Wait. So if things are this serious, when's the wedding?" Chloe said, glancing at Ladybug.

Ladybug returned the innocent look with daggers, but it was too late. Both she and Chat were quite red.

"Well, um… Mari and I hadn…. uh… well…"

"You do want to marry her, right?" Chloe again probed.

"Of course! She's my best friend, and the love of my life. I can't even imagine living without her in my life."

At this, the group again let out a stream of "awww"s that made the cat smile.

Ladybug turned to him and regretfully changed the subject. "So did you have a plan?"

"Yeah. Here's what I thought. We have a designer, a reporter, a model, an heiress aka Queen Bee, and a DJ, plus the four of us heroes. That leaves eight of us… or I mean nine of us. The time when security will be the lowest will actually be during the fashion show itself, because the crowd of people make it a lot harder to break in than when the building is empty."

Everyone nodded in understanding as he outlined the individual goals of each participant. Once the plan had been ironed out, he produced the meal he had saved.

Squeals of delight echoed through the room as he presented everyone's favorites spaghetti toppings.

As they ate, Ladybug turned and began to ask, "so Chat at the mansion you used Cataclysm twice in--"

It was at that point that Chloe decided to speak to the onyx clad hero.

"So Chat, are you planning on going ring shopping anytime soon? Because If you are, I think Ladybug's ring finger is just about the same size as your girlfriend's."

Chat coughed up the food in his mouth, and Ladybug suddenly forgot everything in her life, other than looking at wedding rings with her Kitty.

As they all finished their meals, the friends said goodbye to one another. It was only a few days until the day of the Spring Fashion Show.

It was only a few days until all their lives would change… for better or for worse.


	7. Slow Burn

Seven: Slow Burn

Author's Note:

_Ep: Psst, Ic - you still have the Cat Miraculous over there in the box? I've got a rhododendron I want to Cataclysm out of my garden. Since we're already in trouble with Master Fu, anyway - he can't get any angrier with us, at least. Right?_

_Ic: Yeah, I'll send it to you. No worries, I told Fu that Lila stole the other one, so we should have a little time to find it before he gets too mad… Is it wrong to frame her?_

_Ep: The queen of misrepresentation? Nope._

The calendar relentlessly rolled toward the Spring Fashion Show, and Chat found himself alternating between firming up his plans and trying to relax by hanging out with Marinette. It didn't help that his professional life was exceptionally busy in the lead up to the show; while he was primarily working for Marinette, he'd also had some obligation to review what House of Gabriel planned to put into the show, too. His father had been understandably standoffish with the premier pieces of the collection prior to the break-in; Chat had only seen them, briefly, that first night he'd discovered who Hawkmoth was. After their botched attempt to retrieve the Miraculouses, though, Gabriel had gone into full-on paranoia mode, holing up in the mansion with only Nathalie at his side.

Truth be told, he'd tipped the scales toward spending time with his girlfriend, curling his feline form around her on the couch and simply luxuriating in being part of someone else's life for as many hours as either could spare. Now that her civilian alter-ego had been read into the plans to work against Gabriel Agreste at the show -- and who Hawkmoth was -- Marinette had official standing to try and de-stress her boyfriend while simultaneously offering helpful insights into the overall project. It didn't hurt that she'd not be blindsided later by any suggestions Chat would make to Ladybug.

The Friday evening prior to Fashion Week, Chat was curled up on Marinette's couch against a fluffy pillow that was covered in black fabric and hand-embroidered with his green paw print. Sound asleep and gently purring, Marinette felt a little badly about softly shaking him awake. "Chat?" she whispered into his feline ear.

A masked green eye cracked open. "Princess," Chat said sleepily.

"How long have you been here?" Marinette asked as she came around to sit beside him.

Closing his masked eye, Chat continued to purr after slightly repositioning himself to make room for Marinette. "I left House--my office early," he said, nearly giving his girlfriend his alter-ego's place of business. "It was a lousy week that ended with a bang," he added, "and I just needed a quiet spot to hide for a bit." He cracked the masked green eye open again, a slight trace of worry visible to Marinette. "I'm sorry, I should have asked before I snuck in."

Marinette's eyes went to the slider on her balcony, which she knew was not normally open, and raised an eyebrow. "You're always welcome, kitty," she said softly as she ran her hand along his shoulder. "But maybe we should see about getting you a key."

That elicited a chuckle from Chat, who held up a paw. "Claws work just fine on locks," he said.

"So I've seen," Marinette laughed in reply.

Both of Chat's eyes popped open at that. "Really?" he asked, the purring suddenly gone. "When--"

"Why was it a bad day?" she quickly asked, realizing Ladybug had been the one to see him pick the basement door at the mansion. Standing, she asked as she went back to the kitchenette, "And would some wine help?"

Now fully awake, Chat pushed himself up and rolled atop the couch's back, facing Marinette as he lay on his side. Something about her hurried change of subject bothered him, but he let it go for the moment. "I had meetings all day, and then got a phone call from my--rather, from Adrien," he corrected on the fly. "Gabriel is apparently summoning him to Sunday dinner, and Adrien is… concerned that his father knows he helped us."

Marinette's eyes flew open, and she reached for her phone on the counter. "Maybe I should call him?" she asked as she started to dial the number.

Knowing his civilian cell phone was in his costume pocket, and unsure if he'd left it on vibrate, Chat rolled off the couch and managed to leap to the side of the counter to place a gentle paw on Marinette's hand. "Got it covered," he smiled, noting he'd managed to snag her before she'd connected. "I told him I'd hover close by the mansion during dinner. In case it gets… ugly, or worse."

"By yourself?" Marinette asked. "If what you've told me is true - Adrien could be in real danger. Maybe you should ask Ladybug to back you up."

Chat shook his head. "I should do this myself. But I'll let her know what's up, in case I do get into trouble."

Marinette nodded, again pleased that Chat wasn't necessarily running into the fire without some planning. "Promise?" she asked.

"I purromise," Chat said, pushing himself over the counter far enough to plant a kiss on his girlfriend.

After spending the balance of the weekend with Marinette, Chat swung past his apartment midday Sunday to pack his overnight bag before making his way through the mid-afternoon Paris sky to Agreste Manor. Over the years, he'd developed multiple pathways toward his old stomping grounds, a prudent precaution to ensure his anonymity. Unlike teenage Chat, though, that afternoon he wouldn't be swinging through an open bedroom window; instead, he picked a favored alleyway close to the Metro to drop his transformation, then briskly walked the remaining distance as if he'd taken the train to the mansion.

Passing through the outer gates, he reflected that the mansion didn't look all that different than it had when he'd been living there full time. The austere courtyard, though, felt emptier and colder than normal, though that could be more due to his current feelings about Gabriel. How many times had he trudged up those marble steps to the front door, to be met by Nathalie and his abominable schedule dictated by his father? As he pressed the doorbell, he found himself smiling a very Chat-smile. Now knowing the secrets of the mansion had put quite a bit of his past into perspective.

He'd managed to settle his face into what he thought of as Bland Adrien by the time Nathalie opened the door. "Nathalie," he smiled automatically, handing her a small bouquet he'd thought to pick up for the occasion.

"Adrien," she said as tonelessly as ever, though for a moment, he thought he'd seen something close to emotion flicker across her face as she accepted the flowers. "Your room is ready," she said as she stepped back and allowed him to enter the foyer. "Dinner will be served at the usual hour."

"Thank you," Adrien said as he walked past her and headed up toward his old room. Closing the door to his bedroom, he fell into his usual pattern when visiting, hanging his dinner jacket in the walk-in closet and then taking a very long, very hot shower to try and steady his nerves for the impending inquisition. For he was reasonably certain it would be just that.

But he was ready.

Why he was dressing as though going to a formal dinner party was beyond him, and Plagg caught his frown as he made the final loops on his bowtie. "Were you planning on letting Ladybug know about this?" he asked innocently. "I seem to remember you telling Marinette that was part of your scheme."

Adrien said something nasty under his breath. "I completely forgot. Plagg - claws out!"

He blinked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, and in a green flash, the dinner jacket was replaced by his form-fitting costume. Chat's masked eyes flicked down to the bell where the bowtie had been and found himself smiling as he slid the baton from his back and popped it open to phone mode.

Ladybug, surprisingly, picked up immediately. "Chat?" she asked. "You caught me scoping out the location of the show."

Chat rolled his eyes. "Isn't that, like, the sixth time this week?"

"I feel like we're missing something," she said. "Anyway, what's up? Want to join me?"

"Maybe later," Chat hedged. "I'm actually at the Agreste Mansion. Adrien is being forced to have dinner with Gabriel, and asked if I'd stay close. He's worried--"

"That Gabriel knows he spoke to you?" Ladybug was nodding. "I'm on my way now."

"No - I've got it covered," Chat said quickly. "But I wouldn't be unhappy if you happened to stay transformed and within easy distance of the mansion this evening."

"Are you sure?" she asked, her small face worried on his baton.

"Yeah," he said. "I'll call when it's over."

"All right," she said. "Be safe."

"Always, Milady," Chat laughed as he hung up and the de-transformed for dinner.

As he expected, he found himself alone in the dining room when he entered. He knew his father well enough to know that he'd make a dramatic entrance from the opposite side of the room, and wasn't disappointed a few minutes later when Gabriel strode into the room wearing the air of a busy man.

"Adrien," he intoned as he took his seat at the other end of the table.

Adrien nodded as he sipped from his wine. "Father," he replied.

They ate in typical silence through to the dessert course; Adrien played it as he normally would have, waiting for his father to make the first move. It came as Adrien was pouring himself a cup of coffee from the carafe on the buffet.

"You talked to Chat Noir," Gabriel said. It wasn't a question.

Adrien acted as though he wanted to say something as he turned; Gabriel watched with a small smile as his son's face frowned. With some effort, Adrien answered, haltingly, "What.. do you mean?"

"Come now," Gabriel said as he dabbed his napkin at his face. "It's a simple question. Have you talked to Chat Noir?"

"Yes," Adrien said as he returned to his chair. "But that is a pretty general question, Father. As you are well aware, I've known Chat for years. We're not, like, best friends, but he does drop in on me from time to time." Adrien paused, his green eyes giving Gabriel a piercing look. "What are you really asking? Did I share what I saw in the atelier with Chat?"

Gabriel sat back in his chair, the smile slightly less. He was used to using his position to intimidate people - even his son - into providing what he needed, when he needed it. Adrien, however, was not keeping to his end of the bargain. An eyebrow went up at the realization he had less influence over his flesh-and-blood than he thought.

"The answer is no," Adrien said as he carefully sipped from his coffee. "Why would I? I have no idea who is under that mask, but I find it unlikely to be someone even remotely interested in high fashion." He paused and returned the small smile to his father. "Besides, as you so very carefully reminded me, I have a nondisclosure agreement with you. I presume it covers superheroes; if it doesn't, you might want to talk to our lawyers."

Gabriel looked at his son. "I had to ask," he said. "Chat Noir, Ladybug and her crew of second-rate sidekicks broke into my pattern vault a few days ago and stole sensitive material from me."

Adrien wondered how Carapace and Rena would take the news they'd been demoted. "Father! Why didn't you call me right away? That's insane," he said, coming out of his chair and around to his Father's side. Trying hard to seem genuine, he continued: "What was taken? Have you told the authorities? My God, if Chat was involved, it must have been something he thought was dangerous!"

Gabriel seemed to be buying his concerned son act. "It wasn't - he stole my inspiration book," he said, looking away for a moment. "You've seen it before - it's the one you borrowed, shall we say, when you were a teenager."

"You still have that?" Adrien said. "I've not seen it since the day Marinette brought it back to you," he added, which (for Adrien) was technically true.

"I did." Gabriel looked back to his son and made a calculated decision. "If you do know Chat that well, get the book back for me. My future - our future - depends on my having that book."

Clever, Adrien thought. And I can use this. "All right, I'll reach out to him. He has to have had a good reason."

"I'd appreciate it."

Adrien pulled the chair out closest to his Father. "Does it affect what we are putting in the show?" he asked, keeping the concerned note in his voice.

"No," Gabriel said. "I think we are ready. I might have made some final enhancements, but…"

Adrien nodded knowingly. "I haven't seen the final pieces," he said. "How did they come out?"

"Well," Gabriel said guardedly. "You and the rest of the world will see them at the show."

"At the show," Adrien repeated, then made to look as if he were really worried. "Dear Lord! You're worried Chat is going to try to do something at the show? Why? Did you increase security?" Adrien reached out to him slightly and paused, hand on the tablecloth. "Let me talk to him - maybe this is some sort of massive misunderstanding."

"I highly doubt it," Gabriel replied. "Chat knows exactly what he is after," he added almost as an afterthought. "But we are ready."

"Good," Adrien said, thinking it might be anything but. Their plans would likely need to adjust to accommodate whatever insanity his Father had waiting for them.

"Well," Gabriel said as he pushed back from the table. "I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, as do you. Good night, Adrien."

Adrien stood. "Father," he said as he watched the man who was Hawkmoth leave the room, trailing an intensity that gave him pause.

Once the door closed, Plagg floated out of his jacket pocket. "That was weirder than usual," he said, looking first to the door Gabriel had exited through and then back to his holder.

Adrien smiled and beckoned him back to the buffet and the wine bottle. "Sniff this and you'll understand."

Plagg floated to the bottle and immediately flew back. "What--?"

"I presume some sort of truth potion he brewed up," Adrien smiled. "It's in the coffee too." As they moved to the door themselves, Adrien actually found himself laughing. "I've been Chat long enough now that my human sense of smell is more refined; I picked up the scent when I started to decant it. Fortunately, I know my father," he added before unbuttoning his jacket and retrieving two small flasks. "This one is red, this one is white," he explained. "I wasn't sure which one he'd serve."

"Clever," Plagg said as he moved to return to the jacket. He paused, though, and flew up to Adrien's face, his eyes filled with concern. "You drank the coffee!"

"Model trick," Adrien smiled, and quickly demonstrated by pantomiming a cup and sipping from it as if real liquid were present. "From a show I did years ago, where the outfits were themed around beatniks and coffee shops. We had to 'drink' each time we stopped on the runway."

"Remind me never to play poker against you," Plagg said, smiling.

"It would be fun," Adrien laughed as he took the steps two at a time back to his room. "Let's fill in Ladybug and then go visit Marinette." He smiled a bit. "I could use a friendly face after this."

"Any excuse," Plagg frowned, but Adrien could see it was good natured.

"Plagg - claws out!" Adrien called as he ran toward the open window. The green wave of transformation caught hold of him as he leapt to the window; with practiced ease borne of experience, he hit the windowsill as Chat Noir and used his paws to push himself out into the night in a massive vault.

Mirroring, perhaps, the overall mood of the evening, the sky had grown overcast while he'd been having dinner with his father, covering the partial moon and threatening rain. As Chat maneuvered toward the rooftop where the Bug Tracker on his baton indicated Ladybug was waiting, he hoped it didn't presage the success of their endeavour. A grim smile appeared below his masked emerald eyes; there was much riding on their success, not the least of which was his ability to finally -- finally! -- tell Marinette who he was.

He needed to see that friendly face for sure now.

Ladybug looked up at his approach, watching as he dropped down into his world-famous cat-crouch beside her. Stowing his baton at the small of his back, he flashed the grin that always made her return one. "Adrien was more successful than we could have hoped, Milady," he said as he vaulted to sit on the brick just above her. His green eyes slightly floresced in the darkness as he blinked and continued. "Gabriel Agreste knows it was us; he more or less telegraphed that he was taking precautions at the show, now."

Ladybug frowned. "I guess that's not all that unexpected, considered Mayura nearly caught us. I don't suppose he tipped his hand, though?" She laughed a bit. "Villains sometimes do, especially when they assume they've outfoxed us."

Chat shook his mane. "Not specifically, no. But what I think is more interesting is that he's still moving forward, putting the jewels in plain sight. That's either a brilliant tactical move to draw us in to try and grab our Miraculous, or the state of affairs at House of Gabriel have become so bad he's desperate enough to risk his Miraculous despite knowing we're coming for him."

Chat didn't add that he knew the latter was likely the issue, based on what his alter-ego could see at the office.

"It's not quite a catastrophe," he added, "but we're going to have to adjust our plans to assume some Miraculous-based defenses will be in store for us." Ladybug saw his glowing green eyes narrow. "So much for the basic smash-and-grab."

From where she was standing, Ladybug was nearly eye-to-eye with where Chat had perched on the brick. She could see that this turn of events had frustrated him, especially the way his tail had continued to twist and kink as he filled her in on what Adrien had passed along. Without really thinking about it, she reached up and ran her finger along his mask's edge, and was rewarded by seeing him close his eyes and gently lean into her touch, much as he would when they were snuggled on her couch in the apartment, gentle purr rolling up from within him..

Until those same eyes flew open, wide. "Uh, Milady…" he choked.

Ladybug snatched her hand away from his face, feeling her own warm with embarrassment. That was a tiny bit too forward for her, as Ladybug; for a moment, she'd forgotten which persona she was supposed to be. "Sorry," she apologized. "You… you just looked so worried."

Even in the near-darkness, she could see he still wore something of a shocked expression. "Thanks," he said softly, then with a trace of his own embarrassment, added, "my, uh, well Marinette that is, she's figured out all of the cat-like triggers I have, and, uh, respond to." He coughed again. "That, uh, happens to be one of them."

Chuckling nervously, Ladybug said, "Good to know."

Subtly shifting himself away from his partner, Chat coughed once more. "Anyway. I've got to go before I'm missed."

"Missed?" Ladybug said, arching a masked eyebrow.

Chat swore at himself - Ladybug's amazing ministrations had thrown him. "Uh, yeah, uh, it's been -- hah! hah! -- like, two hours since I've seen Marinette." He paused as he pulled out his baton and tried for the cheesiest grin he had in inventory. "What can I say? She pawsitively pines away for me."

Unable to suppress her eyeroll, Ladybug nonetheless sought to delay him slightly. "Maybe you should stop in and see if Adrien is still doing all right? Then you can have some playtime, kitty."

"Right," Chat replied, nodding, knowing that Adrien was just fine, thank you. "I'll do that. Night, Milady," he saluted as he leapt away and in the general direction of the mansion.

Ladybug watched for a brief moment before booking it off the rooftop, slinging her yo-yo toward the nearest antenna aerial and trying to move faster than a feline to beat her partner to the apartment. With luck, he might spend a few minutes chatting with her old friend.

Except, as she neared the apartment, she caught the silvery flash of a certain baton in the half moonlight. Landing and then crouching behind a brick chimney a few blocks from safety, she popped open the yo-yo and saw the telltale green paw moving inexorably toward her apartment. Frowning, and filing away her concern that Chat had actually skipped out on Adrien, she put her emergency plan into action for just such an occasion and leapt toward the street below, riding her yo-yo to the pavement before running madly to the service alley behind her building.

She'd found a convenient access door normally used for utility repairs a few months earlier; dashing inside, she took the service stairs three at a time. On the landing just outside of her floor, she dropped her transformation and crept across the hall to her apartment - only then realizing the door was locked.

For she'd left via the balcony earlier.

Saying some un-Ladybug-like phrases, and making sure the coast was clear, she re-transformed and bolted for the window at the end of the hallway. Vaulting through the opening, Ladybug hooked her yo-yo on the wrought iron of her balcony and swung up and around to land just in front of the glass doors. She caught the reflection of a certain black feline landing on the roof of the building facing her apartment and hurriedly slipped through the space she'd left, sliding the door shut behind her as she leapt behind her couch. "Tikki - spots off!" she whispered, hoping she'd not just heard the rubbery thump of her partner landing on the patio.

The red flash filled her vision and she popped her head over the edge to see Chat was, indeed, perched on her wrought iron railing. She wasn't entirely sure he'd spotted her or her de-transformation, so she watched as he dropped off the railing and moved to the glass doors.

She groaned, though, when she did see the arched masked eyebrow as he noted the door was closed -- generally, she left it open when she expected a visit from her kitty -- before he tapped his claws against the frame. Grabbing the floor rug behind the couch, she stood and smiled at her boyfriend, waving as she walked toward him.


	8. Into the Lion's Den

Eight: Into the Lion's Den

_Author's Note:_

_Ic: Hey Ep, I got the "Bee Miraculous" back from wherever I misplaced it, so we can give it to Fu. *holds out silver ring taped to a yellow comb* Hey, Pollen you can come out._

_*Plagg emerges covered in yellow lines of paint*_

_Plagg: It is I, *sigh* Pollen… Now where is my camembert?_

_Ep: (eyes wide) We are so scre--_

"Ugh…" Chat rubbed his eyes.

Marinette slid open the glass door. "Hey Chat, nice to see you," she said, holding back a pant.

"Oh hey," he muttered half-heartedly.

"Kitty, you ok?" She questioned.

"Yeah. I just thought I saw Ladybug a few blocks away."

"Haha, weird. Maybe she just went to get some shopping done?" Marinette lied.

"Yeah, or I just saw something," he said, once again rubbing his eyes.

He quickly slid next to her and slipped his arm around her. "This kitten needs a princess," he mumbled.

She allowed her left hand to scratch behind his cat ears while her right hand's pointer finger gently switched from caressing under his chin to rubbing his cheeks, around where she imagined the whiskers on a cat might be.

"Like that mon Chaton?" She whispered into his ear.

"Purrrrfect," he echoed just as softly as his eyes gently closed.

He forced his eyes open long enough to scoop Marinette up and carry her to her couch. Gently he placed her down, only to fall on top of her, still purring.

"So, Purrincess, purretty please tell me about your day?" He begged.

"Oh… uh… well… since the last time I saw you… I-I-I um… uh… I- uh, I thought about when my dashing prince charming would sweep me off my feet."

"And was it everything you had hoped for?" He asked, a pleased smirk adorning his face.

"I don't know, he hasn't shown up yet. But I guess you did a good job as a stand in," she teased, simultaneously bopping his nose.

That prompted a small giggle from the masked man, which quickly turned into a thoughtful smile.

"What?"

"Well, the nose boop you gave me reminds me of the ones Ladybug always gives me when she teases me. And just earlier today she rubbed my mask like you always do. Haha, it's like you two switched purrsonalities."

Marinette felt her cheeks redden, and she tried to keep the flustered feeling she was experiencing in her brain. It was at that moment that she realized that if she was any more careless she wouldn't have to worry about revealing her identity to Chat. She was being so obvious she was sure even the blind could see what she was trying to hide.

She bit her lip. Whenever Chat got close to her identity, she used her secret weapon to diffuse the situation. Of course she always felt bad when she did.

"Oh? And you let her?"

Chat froze, aware that he was walking on thin ice.

"Um, I wouldn't… say that. More like she caught me off guard. And I said something right away, and she apologized," he added.

Marinette was hardly listening to him. She could see he was uncomfortable, and was already planning a way to make him feel better after her attack.

"Oh, well maybe I should have a word with Ladybug. Until then, I can find solace in knowing that she's never done this," she exclaimed, throwing the cat underneath her and placing a more-than-friendly kiss on his lips.

Chat's cheeks flushed and he smiled as they separated. "Yeah, I hope that as long as I live, you are the only one who kisses me like that."

Marinette slid off of her boyfriend, finding herself snuggled against him, his chiseled arms wrapped around her. She reveled in the moment. This is what safety and love and purrfection felt like, all rolled into one. She wished that she could live in that moment forever… or furever as her lovely kitty would say.

A feeling of indescribable love welled up in her chest, and she longed to tell Chat her secret. After all, she was probably already in as much danger as "the girlfriend" as she would be as Ladybug. And he probably already subconsciously knew it was her. She continued to reason within herself, pointing out that people who loved each other wouldn't keep such big secrets.

"Chat, I have to tell you something. It's me, Ladybug. And I am your Bugaboo, your Princess. I am Marinette and the Heroine of Paris. I know it's a lot to take in, but say something when you're ready."

The words spilled out of her mouth before she could even think. Instantly, dread filled her mind. She reminded herself that their secret identities were about mutual protection, and that Chat never expected her to reveal her secret persona.

"Stupid Marinette," Ladybug chided internally, as dread built up within her.

A gentle snore washed an ocean of relief over the panicked hero.

"Haha, Chat, it seems your catlike tendencies have saved the day for once."

She gently rubbed his ear. She loved this silly little kitty too much.

As she offered her warm caress, Chat slid an eye open. "Mari, sorry i know you were saying something, but I didn't quite cat-ch it," he apologized.

Marinette's lips curled ever so slightly. "Oh, I just told you that I love you, nothing new."

"Well, it's new to me every time you say it. I hope I never miss those words again," he uttered, his sleepy eyes gleaming with sincerity.

"Chat," Marinette began,"I just noticed you have been a bit tired lately… more than the average house cat. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've just been busy between my Chat responsibilities and my um… "other guy" responsibilities. I've kinda been burning the midnight oil… and then filling the lamp with espresso when I was out of oil," he confessed.

"Ok, well then, let's get some sleep now. This is your opportunity to rest before the big day arrives," she said, pulling him close.

Chat woke up in Marinette's clutch, halfway between paradise and torment. He surreptitiously slid his baton out and checked the time. 3:00 a.m.

A soft sigh escaped Mari's lips and if Chat could have, he would have agreed. He had intended to return to his apartment that night and rested up before the big show (and heist) began, but he had apparently overworked himself, and his body had accepted the chance to slumber alongside his girlfriend.

The thought of falling asleep alongside Marinette left a slight blush on Chat's face. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but for the most part, they tried to separate before they were tempted with sleep.

Carefully he pulled her arm off and slid out of her warm embrace. He desperately wanted to return the moment he slipped off of the couch. He had been working double time this last week, spending hours a day as "Adrien the model" with Marinette, trying to avoid talking too much, or saying anything that might blow his cover. Then in his free time, he would leave her house, transform and show right back up. In the end it made for a lot of sleepless hours of talking, laughing, and snuggling up for enjoyable movies. But the overall result was a Chat was spending barely enough time with Marinette, and not nearly enough time sleeping.

He began to do the mental math based on the time. If the show started at 9 in the morning and it was 3, they would be expected to be there 2 hours early. Add the hour it would take him to get ready and he knew he would likely be able to get only several more hours of sleep.

With a sigh, he pressed his lips to the designer's temple, and bid her farewell for a few hours, before slipping into the night.

When he made it back to his apartment, he walked to the fridge and pulled out a half dozen pieces of camembert. "Plagg, claws in."

"Adrien, I swear, if you make me pull another all nighter, I'm going to-- is all that cheese for me?"

Adrien smiled. "Yup, and there will be a lot more where that's coming from later today."

"Ok…. um, disregard what I was just saying. You are my favorite holder," the Kwami said almost too eagerly.

Adrien barely smiled as he laid his weary body down on the bed. "Oh...good," came across his lips, though he barely heard himself as he drifted off to sleep.

In what felt like a moment later, his alarm began to blare, informing him that it was 6 in the morning, and that he had better get prepared for the busy day ahead.

It took him only a minute to hop into the shower and begin his self beautification process. He frowned as he turned on the water, and the faint scent of new cloth and fabric glue washed off of him. Internally he prayed that there was a day when that smell would always linger with him.

From there he washed up and dried himself. He threw on some stylish clothes and carefully gelled his hair, noting to himself that it was especially important for him to look his best. Today he represented the most amazing fashion designer in the world, and he refused to look anything but spectacular.

It seemed like the hour zoomed by, and only moments after he had woken up, he was telling a security guard his name. The man, clad in a black suit, with matching tie and sunglasses nodded, and he walked into the building. He found himself in the foyer, a large open tiled room. Each large square tile was a meter long, and they all wore individual dazzling colors, that reminded Adrien of a peacock.

On his left was a large staircase going downward, and on the right was an equally large staircase headed underground. Each had a guard, not unlike the one at the entrance, stationed there. He knew the first set of stairs led to the VIP balcony, where Chloe was more than likely already stationed. The staircase below was for designers and models. It let to the three underground floors: the first being the models rooms, next a level of supplies and sewing equipment for last minute alterations and repairs designers might need to make, and finally a restricted floor: the vault where the fashion pieces were stored.

Before Adrien could head down the stairs, an arm wrapped around him, and he turned to see his old friend, Nino grinning at him, his other arm carrying some DJ equipment. Adrien returned the smile.

"Are you ready for this," the DJ asked,"...um...I mean the fashion show," he added a little louder, offering a covert wink.

Adrien allowed himself a small laugh at Nino's cautiousness and nodded. "Yeah, I have been waiting for this day for a long time."

Just behind them, a commotion caught their attention.

"Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. I don't know what second class bouncer school you went to -probably one that accepts illiterates- but my name is most certainly on the VIP list!"

They turned to see Chloe, in a scarlet jumpsuit, berating a guard. He quickly looked at his clipboard again, and made some gestures that were probably related to begging to keep his job. In response, Chloe just patted him on the head as if nothing was wrong, turning ever so slightly to wink at her friends who were staring in awe.

"D-did she have a VIP pass?" Nino questioned.

"Well if she didn't before, she does now," his friend laughed.

Just then the door burst open and a ravenette streaked past them. "I'M SO LATE! " she cried as she ran towards the staircase to the designers workroom.

"Hey, Mari," Adrien said, gently grabbing her arm,"we still have 5 minutes. We've already done everything, now it's just being prepared. There is still plenty of time before the show begins, and even a little bit more until we show off your designs."

Then more quietly he added,"plus part of the plan revolves around me being late, remember."

As the color returned to her face, Nino excused himself to set up the rather heavy turntable he was carrying.

If was that moment that Alya appeared, camera around her neck.

"It it isn't my favorite former-ship!" She said, taking a picture.

"Former-what?" Adrien said, only half aware of what Alya was trying to say.

"Alya, ix-nay on the ush-cray," her friend begged, which seemed enough for Alya.

"On a different note, I heard about your new boyfriend," Alya said cryptically.

"Oh yeah," Marinette mumbled, not daring to look Adrien in the eyes.

Adrien's eyes gleamed, and he struggled to restrain his inner Chat. "Yeah, I heard he was a real alley cat! But from what I understand, you think he's a real CAT-ch. Some might even say meowt of this world, almost purrfect."

The two girls stared, mouths open in shock.

"What?" Adrien backpedaled,"he's the one who asked me to model for you. And he may have convinced me to use those specific puns."

Both nodded in understanding, though a touch of pale still clung to their faces.

"Anyhow, I need to go get dressed. Mari you can come check up on me in a few. Hopefully I don't get lost on my way to the catwalk," he added with a wink.

As he showed his ID to a guard stationed at the stairs, he made it to his dressing room, and began preparations for his big entrance. He was scheduled to model at 10, giving him a few minutes to relax.

"Hey Plagg," Adrien asked when he was sure he was alone.

"What's up, kid?" The black cat replied.

"What does 'ix-nay on the ush-cray' mean?"

"Um, sounds like some made up code, like pig latin or something. But let's not worry about that right now. You need to transform and wipe the cctv records. Otherwise people might be able to review the footage and make an educated guess who the members of team miraculous are."

Adrien shook his head in understanding. Now was time to act.

"Plagg, claws out!"


	9. A Really, Really Big Show

Nine: A Really, Really Big Show

_Author's Note: Ic, Tikki is on the phone and is demanding to speak with you. I've never seen her so angry! You didn't share the photos of Pla--er, Pollen on our social media, did you? I thought we couldn't take photos of kwamis?_

_Ic: Um… hang up! Tell her I have telephonophobia! And tell her that I would never do that… on an unrelated note, if you use the smiley filter, it somehow allows you to take pictures of Kwami… or at least I heard that._

For once, Marinette found a practical use for her ability to meltdown.

Standing just outside the wing housing the model's dressing rooms, she managed to drop the bolts of fabric she'd stashed earlier in the massive janitorial closet at one end of the floor; conveniently, she'd forgotten to properly secure the rolls, and they rolled merrily away from her in several directions, unspooling red satin right as far as the eye could see - including the bolt that had conveniently gone right down the middle of the hallway.

"Oh no!" she shrieked, only partially acting, as she raced after that particular roll.

Models in various states of dress appeared at their doors to see the calamity; several had the unfortunate luck to receive a lowered shoulder as Marinette "accidentally" ran into them, creating even more havoc as bodies and clothing starting moving in all directions to avoid her. Trying hard not to smile, she continued her seemingly errant pathway toward the far staircase at the end of the hallway - the one that led to the designers-only level.

Marinette's eyes located the one item she'd been waiting to see and subtly adjusted her path. "Look out! Don't step on the fabric!" she cried as she ran headlong into a beverage and food trolley and it's rather surprised vendor; she went one way, and the cart and it's contents forcibly went another, clattering against a particular dressing room door in a massive heap of food, liquid and broken ceramics.

After quickly helping up the startled woman running the cart, Marinette shot after the still-moving roll of fabric. An unremarkable woman in a business suit had appeared at the end of the hallway from the stairwell leading up to the show floor; wearing glasses, she winked at Marinette as she dashed toward her. The designer nodded as she hauled up in front of the card access panel; breathing hard, she pressed her identity badge to the plate and then a moment later pushed the door open to dash into the darker stairwell. Business Suit followed her in and pressed the door shut behind her.

Not for the first time, Marinette wished her civilian alter-ego had thought to ask for the earwig comm units Team Miraculous were wearing. "Tell them we're in," she whispered as the two women descended the stairs two at a time.

"Queenie to Kitty. We're in," Business Suit said, pausing before saying to Marinette: "Second unit is in motion as well."

"Rena did a good job," Marinette said. "You look just like a younger Coco Channel."

"Thank you, Dupain-Cheng," Queen Bee laughed. "Or should I say--"

"No, you shouldn't," Marinette cautioned.

Queen Bee pouted slightly. "Fine."

Up on the model floor, Chat Noir popped open his baton and enabled floorplan mode; though he'd practically memorized the layout, he wanted to make sure he'd not missed anything. Stepping to his door, he heard Marinette's cries and then smiled as the frame shook with the collision of the food trolley. Quickly, he locked the door, then slid the edge of the makeup chair under the handle.

"Hey!" he cried out, shaking the door for good measure. "My door's jammed! Help!" he yelled. "I'm due to be on the catwalk! Help!"

He pressed his feline ear to the door and was rewarded hearing another model: "That's Adrien's dressing room! Adrien? Are you okay?"

"I can't get the door open!" he said, adding what he thought was the right level of panic to his voice. Shaking the door again, he cried out once more. "I've got to get out of here! They're expecting me!"

He didn't wait for the rest of the conversation, instead opting to fire up the pre-recorded looping audio of him calling anyone he could dial and demanding to be released from the room. Setting the volume as high as he dared, Chat propped his civilian phone up by the mirror before extending his baton and riding it up to tiles of the drop ceiling.

A moment later, he was crawling along the metal infrastructure of the sub-ceiling, following the cable trunk toward the main security center for the entire building. "Kitty's on the prowl," he said over the comm link a fraction of a second after hearing Queen Bee update her position with Marinette.

On the landing, Marinette pressed her ID badge once more and she and Queen Bee flew into the designer area. The area was alive with the best and brightest of the Paris fashion scene, and all were fortunately oblivious to the two women as they worked their last-minute magic on outfits soon to be paraded across the catwalk two floors above them. As the duo quickly worked their way through the space toward an unremarked door at the far end, Marinette tried hard to look like she had a role herself, and realized that she had actually earned a spot among her peers; it was unfortunate timing on Hawkmoths's part that her debut would be delayed. Yet one more strike in her book against the supervillain they had spent years trying to defeat.

Maybe, finally, today, she hoped.

Reaching the door, Marinette nodded subtly to Queen Bee when they reached the door and she pressed her card one last time; she panicked slightly when the light took a second or two longer to switch to green and click the door open.

"We're through," Queen Bee said over her comm. She smiled at something she heard a moment before Rena dropped her illusion and the superheroine was fully revealed. "Rena is off to recharge," she told Marinette as they dropped the final meters to the vault containing all of the high-value pieces for the show.

"Good," Marinette nodded as she approached the final security panel. She'd been told that her pass would get her into the vault, and now was the moment of truth; sweat trickled down her forehead as she pressed her badge to the panel and waiting the agonizingly long interval for the light to swap from red to green. Without waiting, she pulled the door open further and she ducked in behind Queen Bee.

Back on the model floor, Rena Rouge had detached herself from the shadows where she'd worked her Mirage and was carefully trying to make her way toward the massive janitor closet she'd used earlier to transform. Her chirping necklace was starting to get to the dire straits part of the spectrum, but the increased flow of models exiting the melee Marinette had created had left her stranded behind a rolling clothes rack with little room to maneuver. Taking a deep breath and trying not to panic, she slowly started to push the rack toward the relative safety of the closet and had nearly made it before she heard a shriek behind her.

Whirling at the prospect of an akuma, she instead saw a half-dressed model, white as snow, pointing directly at Rena. "Akuma alert!?" he cried before passing out dramatically, crumpling to the floor in a heap of limbs and fabric.

"No--!" Rena started to answer as she dropped to the side of the young model, but the panic hit and what had been a marginally orderly exodus turned into outright panic, with people fleeing all around her at the prospect of Team Miraculous engaging with Hawkmoth in the tiny space. Sighing and wanting desperately to say something bad, she looped a brown-cladded arm around the slumbering model and handed him off to two more models that had stopped to assist her.

"Get him out of here," she commanded, trying to sound like Ladybug. It appeared to work as they each took an arm and struggled down the hallway with their inert cargo.

Torn between imposing some order on the chaos and using it to her advantage, Rena took the latter and dashed with the crowd until she found an open dressing room door. Dashing inside and slamming the door shut, she dropped her transformation and then cracked the door back open; timing her entrance, Alya pushed her way into the crowd and started directing. "Calm down! Take it easy! Here, follow me - out this way now! Easy now, easy--"

Chat had worked his way to a spot just above the control center; pressing his feline ear to the false ceiling, he could sense there was just a single person on duty. That was what they had expected, and he grinned as he moved toward the air duct. Twisting his baton, a small disc popped out of the bottom; carefully, he slid the tile slightly away and in a deft move, pressed the activation button and dropped the disc to the floor below.

He held his breath for the time it took to swap his baton to rebreather mode, listening carefully for the telltale thump that indicated the guard had succumbed to his catatonic gas. Waiting a fraction of a moment longer for the worst of the gas to dissipate, he quickly dropped into the security center on all fours, then skulked around the semi-circular space that was filled with displays showing every conceivable angle of the exhibit hall until finally locating the banks for the main entrance and model dressing rooms.

A moment longer and he'd located the storage unit for that part of the system. "Cataclysm!" he said softly, then ran his paw along the drives that were dedicated to the entrance and the model hallway. Smiling as they turned to ash, he swiveled until he located the bank of monitors for the vault. "Kitty's got the ball of yarn and has begun to unwind it," he said, his voice slightly muffled by the rebreather. A wide Chat smile appeared as his masked green eyes caught the image of Marinette and Queen Bee outside the vault.

Deftly, he paused the recording and then erased the moments prior to what he was seeing, removing any record of the duo on video, then backed up further to erase the images of them crossing the design floor and the model floor. Sliding sideways to another workstation, it took him a moment of claw-tipped-clattering to erase the access panel logs, completely wiping away any trace of Marinette's movements. Pushing back to the monitor, his claw-tipped paw paused about the restart button. "Catnip toy is within reach," he said.

Just inside the still-open vault door, Queen Bee turned to Marinette. "You're up," she said.

Marinette laughed. "It's hard to believe you are going to see this before Chat does," she said.

Queen Bee smiled. "I promise not to tell him. At least, not initially."

Marinette groaned. "Find a spot to hide," she said as she moved closer to the vault wall.

Queen Bee slipped between the rows and rows of high-end outfits just as Marinette called for her transformation; once the red flash had washed over her, she cracked open her yo-yo and retrieved her own earwig. "Bug's in the flower," she said over comms.

Chat Noir arched a masked eyebrow. "That is an amazing feat of legerdemain," he replied from where he still crouched in the security center. "You managed to avoid--"

"Open channel," she whispered. "And a girl has to have some secrets."

"I think you're yanking my paw," he growled good naturedly. "Bug will be the star in five seconds, re-routing video to the VIP section now…" he trailed off as he finished cross-connecting the feed from the vault to the personal televisions he knew Gabriel Agreste would be using in the suites upstairs. There were no cameras in that area - the rich and famous seldom enjoyed the invasion of their privacy - so they would have to wait to see if he took the bait. "And… fly away, little bug."

Chat waited a moment longer to watch as Ladybug very visibly exited the vault, took a long look at her yo-yo as if she had placed something into it, then dashed offscreen. He smiled wider - his Lady was quite the actress. Making one last check that the security guard was still slumbering, he launched back into the ceiling and headed off to "free" his alter ego from the dressing room.

Up on the main floor, Alya flashed her press credentials to the sunglasses-wearing security officer guarding access to the backstage area. "Covering the mystique of the model," she said with a toothy grin.

The guard scanned her pass twice, nodded, and stepped aside. Alya tried not to look rushed as she quickly made her way to a tiny gap in the curtains; pushing it slightly wider, she confirmed her location with a quick peek onstage, and then withdrew, but not before smiling at the view.

She dialed a favored number on her phone. "Turn up the volume," she whispered, knowing Nino had his bluetooth earbud in.

Clicking off, she made her way to the opposite exit. Just as she pushed through the door, an amazingly horrific cacophony burst forth from behind her, followed by some rather rough language from her husband over the PA system. That'll make the trade papers, she groaned, but knew it had to feel like a real meltdown to the crowd. Fortunately, Nino's reputation was more-or-less rock solid as a top-ten performer, so this would likely be but a blip on his career.

And in some ways it was; Nino found himself amazed at how badly he'd been able to botch his electronic turntable system. Adrien had lent a bit of a hand to create an auto-learning script that would randomly mis-match tracks from his curated playlists to the worst extent possible, and he had to admit, the sound emanating from his massive speaker set was truly horrific. He swore into the PA microphone once more for effect, while reaching for a tiny button below his setup.

With a loud bang a massive plume of smoke appeared from beneath the turntable, covering him and a fair portion of the stage in heavy grey clouds. Frantically waving the smoke away, he tried not to smile at the sparklers that were going off, truly making it feel like his whole system had short circuited with panache. It was a nice touch that Chloe (of all people) had recommended.

Still waving away the smoke, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see his best friend standing there. "Let me have the microphone," Adrien said with a wink.

Nino handed it to him and then disappeared through the curtain, headed for his next act. Over his shoulder, he heard his friend's measured voice over the PA system as Adrien urged the audience to stay calm and evacuate the space. As Nino pushed into a darkened stairway to transform, a part of his brain noted how similar Adrien's voice was to Chat Noir, but laughed it away as a result of the PA system's amplification. The thought of the supermodel running around Paris in skintight black leather was just a little too far-fetched to consider seriously.

Crouched inside the vault, Queen Bee waited. Patience was not her strong suit, but knowing Ladybug was nearby and had entrusted a significant part of the plan inspired her to come through for the hero. As she waited, a new voice popped into her ear. "Turtle descending," she heard.

"About time," she breathed, forgetting she could be heard.

"Keep your bee in your bonnet," Carapace chuckled.

Queenie rolled her eyes. "Whatev--"

"Movement on the stairwell," came the voice of Ladybug. "Get ready."

Pushing further back below the clothing, Queen Bee pulled out her spindle and held her breath.

The vault door swung open, and she heard footsteps on the concrete floor as they moved past her, nearly at a run. Sliding her head out slightly, she caught the back of Gabriel Agreste as he moved deliberately down the aisle; watching, she saw him pause, then rip the zipper open on a particular clothing bag. Her eyes widened as Agreste reached in and violently yanked first one, and then another item from the bag.

Silently she slid back into the rack and waited. Agreste said something she didn't quite pick up, but the brilliant flash of purple light confirmed what she suspected, and as the footfalls moved back toward the vault's entrance, her pulse quickened as she readied her stinger.

The purple-clad legs of Hawkmoth dashed past her, and Queen Bee waited a moment before slipping out behind him. Taking a deep breath, she cried out "Venom!" before launching herself through the air at Hawkmoth. Caught completely off guard, the super-villain turned slightly, cane raised, to fend her off but her aim was true: the stinger on the end of her hand drove itself home in his bicep, and he froze completely, angry expression and all.

"Got him," Queen Bee said, smiling widely as she landed on the far side of the stunned Hawkmoth.

Carapace came through the open vault door at a run, followed closely behind by Ladybug. "Get Shell-ter ready," she said to the turtle-themed hero as she pulled out her yo-yo and flipped to phone mode. "As soon as--oh, there it goes!" she exclaimed when the fire alarm klaxon began to blare through the space. "Looks like Adrien did his final step," she remarked as she dialed the number for the authorities.

"Technically, yes," Chat Noir replied as he dropped onto all fours outside the vault; a fraction of a second later, Rena Rouge appeared next to him. The two stood and carefully joined their teammates in the vault, eyes firmly planted on Hawkmoth. He tactfully decided to leave out the part where he'd already transformed back to Chat before remembering Adrien was supposed to yank one of the fire alarm handles as he went offstage. "Look who I found in the air duct," he added before moving next to Ladybug.

Without intentionally knowing they had done it, the five superheroes had formed a ring around the still-stunned Hawkmoth. Each had their own thoughts about what the moment meant to them, thoughts that were interrupted by the chirping from Queen Bee's Miraculous. "Cap, you're up," Ladybug said before noticing Chat's expression. "--What?" she asked.

Pulling Ladybug aside as Carapace called for his super-power and then wrapped it around the slowly moving Hawkmoth, he leaned close to her. "I'm not sure it feels real - that we actually pulled this off," he said. "Tell me we aren't dreaming. Convince me this is really happening."

Unsure of how she could do that verbally, Ladybug suddenly hit on an idea. As the French Authorities rushed into the vault and surrounded the now angrily yelling Hawkmoth, she reached up and pulled Chat down toward her, planting a deep, deep kiss on her partner. Pulling away, he had a bit of a stunned expression. "How real did that feel?" she asked.

Smiling slyly, he replied, "Real enough that I will need to apologize to my girlfriend."

Eyes sparkling, Ladybug smiled. "I think she'll give you a pass on this one, Chat."

"Uh, guys," Rena said urgently. "We're missing something. And a someone."

Ladybug and Chat turned toward her, then looked at a now-smiling Hawkmoth.


	10. Who Shows up to a Showdown at a Fashion

Ten: Who Shows Up to a Showdown at a Fashion Show?

_Author's Note:_

_Ic: Aiyah! Aiyah! Aiyah! *furiously punching giant stuffed animal* Oh. Hey Ep, didn't see you there… I was just… uh… um… well there is a lot of action in the next little bit and it got me pumped, so Tigger here is sparring with me._

_Ep: (wearing a human-sized banana suit) So it's not cosplay Monday? (looks with concern to remnants of stuffed animal) I… uh… look, I'm just gonna run down the street and get some coffee..._

They looked to see that Rena was clutching the peacock Miraculous. However, unlike a real Miraculous, it had snapped in half in her hand, revealing a silver plastic core.

"Wait, so if you don't have the peacock Miraculous here, where is it?" Chat shouted.

"Oh, it's not here? I could have sworn that was it," Hawkmoth uttered smugly through gritted teeth.

"Everyone, be on the lookout for Nathalie Sancoeur or Mayura. Chances are they're one in the same," Chat bellowed.

Even in a moment like this, Ladybug felt her heart beat a little faster as her Chaton took charge.

"There's no need to look for me, you mangy stray!" A voice echoed from the shadows.

They swerved to see that Mayura had been hiding behind a shelf of labeled clothing meant for one of the other designers.

Hawkmoth meanwhile began to speak.

"Mistress Mayura, you have been outnumbered by a bunch of sniveling children. I give you the power to create as many Sentimonsters as you can imagine!"

As if on cue, a hidden butterfly landed on Nathalie's iPad, and her violet shade turned to a glistening turquoise.

As suddenly as the words were uttered, a rather mischievous-looking Chat leapt into the air and snatched Mayura's fan from her grasp.

"I assume it'll be impawssible to Sentimonsterize anything without this," he taunted, holding her fan in the air.

"You'll pay for that, Chat Noir," she hissed, her anger filling the room.

The other heroes watched in awe as Chat smiled back at her and laughed, waving the fan in front of her, only to leap backwards and lead her away from Hawkmoth.

"Don't you know you shouldn't keep feathers around cats? They like to play with them," he giggled, pawing at the tool.

Internally Adrien was sighing in relief. He had decided to take a non-drowsy allergy relief pill to keep himself safe from any stray feathers at the show, and he had just discovered it was just as effective against kwami-related feathers.

"You insolent stupid little--"

"Hey now, Mayura. Don't you know that bullying others is a deep sign of insecurkitty? Has Hawkmoth been treating you well enough, or has he been bullying you?"

She ran at him, her fist closed and ready to strike, just as he had planned.

"He has been nothing but kind to me you wretched--"

Only a moment before her fist make contact, Chat rolled across her arm, ending up behind her. He wrapped one muscular arm around her neck, using the other for support in a particularly effective choke hold.

"Listen, Nathalie. I get it, Gabriel tricked you, but you don't have to fall on your sword for him. Now you can give up your miraculous, or I can continue to add pressure until you pass out. I would rather not hurt you though."

The other heroes stared at Chat in awe, surprised that he had acted so mature instead of making some joke about surrendering or taking a catnap.

"How dare you suggest Gabriel is the villain!" she said in a half-scream, half-sob.

"OUCH!" Chat cried, releasing his grip on her.

"Chat are you ok?" Ladybug implored, instantly by his side.

An embarrassed smile clung to his lips. "Yeah, fine. She just bit me."

Even Hawkmoth seemed surprised at that information.

Chat sprang at her again, taking aim with his elbow, and then at the last moment turning it his attack into a sweeping kick at her ankles.

Mayura fell, fully prepared for the former attack, and therefore completely vulnerable to the latter. She wore a pained expression, but her grimace showed she had no intention of giving up here.

"Nathalie, please stop!" the Adrien part of Chat begged,"I know that you are doing this for Gabriel, but you don't owe him anything. He's just your boss!"

As Mayura stood up, Chat pulled her further away from Hawkmoth, looking at her with a softness that she didn't seem to comprehend.

"NO!" She shrieked,"I don't owe him this, I'm doing this because I LOVE HIM!"

Chat didn't know what hit him harder, the metaphorical gut blow or he physical one that accompanied it. The rest of team miraculous stared in horrified wonder as Chat gasped for breath. Chloe alone, who had just detransformed, seemed unphased, as she retrieved a cookie and offered it to Pollen.

"Y-you love him?" Chat gasped.

Even Hawkmoth, who was now unstunned, though still trapped in Carapace's Shellter, looked at her. "You love ME?"

The only people more uncomfortable than the miraculous crew were the police officers, who stood in stunned silence, unsure of what exactly was going on, and completely aware that they were powerless until the villains had been defeated.

"CHAT NOIR!" Officer Raincomprix shouted, "You can do it!"

A chant started to form among the helpless lawmen as the young man continued to fight Mayura.

"CHAT NOIR! CHAT NOIR! CHAT NOIR!" the crowd boomed.

Soon, Ladybug and the rest of the team added their voices to the cheering throng, half focused on the battle, and half focused on Hawkmoth.

"Nathalie, do you hear that? They're cheering for me. Don't you see, you and Gabriel have been terrorizing Paris for 10 years. I know just as well as anyone that we would do anything for the people we truly love, but not this. Please, stop this?" Chat implored once more.

Nathalie seemed to have some understanding of what Chat was saying. Lowering her arms she looked at him. "So if the girl you loved needed to hurt a whole city to bring back her family, would you help? Would you be willing to trade what you thought was right to help the person you love?"

Silence filled the room and all eyes were on Chat. He was tempted to say no, but he forced himself to really imagine the situation, completely missing what Nathalie was implying about his mother.

If Marinette lost her parents, if she were truly heartbroken, would I be willing to hurt other people, even terrorize them? Would I be willing to send villains to kill them? Would I be able to look Marinette in the eye, knowing that I could have saved her family, but chose not to for personal reasons?

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Chat spoke. "I love my girlfriend because of who she is, because of her heart. I know she wouldn't want me to hurt other people for her, and I know she would never dream of taking something from someone else just so she could be happy. If I hurt someone for her, I don't think either of us would really be able to say we truly loved each other."

Nathalie nodded, her head remaining low as she walked dejectedly towards Chat. "I think I know what you are saying," she uttered, reaching for her miraculous.

"You're saying you never loved your girlfriend," she hissed, kneeing him in the chest.

"I know this is bad timing," Carapace interjected,"But I'm going to need to take a brief intermission if I don't want to reveal my alter ego to the world." In a moment, the hero disappeared, booking it up the stairs.

"I think I have a plan," Rena said smiling.

In a moment Gabriel disappeared, the area around him covered in a boxlike structure. The group could hear shrieking coming from it.

"What are you doing to him?!" Mayura demanded.

"Oh, this?" Rena gestured to the box,"he is currently in an illusion of a hall of mirrors, except each mirror puts a different out-of-fashion outfit on your reflection."

As if on cue, Gabriel could be heard screaming. "NOT BELL BOTTOMS! ANYTHING BUT BELL BOTTOM JEANS!"

Mayura nodded, ever so slightly relieved. "If you think I'm not going to beat you to the brink of death after I'm done with this foolish cat, you're wrong. You'll pay for making Gabriel suff--"

"I LIED BRING BACK THE BELL BOTTOMS! PLEASE, THE 1970S WERE ENLIGHTENED. STOP THE MC HAMMER PANTS!"

Chat smiled as Mayura threw another punch at him and he dodged with ease.

"Can't tou--"

"Don't you dare say it, Chat," Ladybug warned.

Mayura threw another punch, and just before the impact switched to a roundhouse kick. Chat smiled, using her own momentum to throw her onto her back. She landed with a thud, but only allowed herself a moment of reprieve before flipping herself back to her feet.

"You're going to wish I had declawed you and sent you to the pound once I'm finished with you!" she hollered.

"You know, Mayura, they say cats have 9 lives, but people are only young once. Why don't you give up. I'm sure you can find a nice guy who is your age."

"Love knows no bounds," she countered, hurling herself at one of the walls and kicking against it, in the process, repelling herself towards Chat.

Her foot made full contact with his face, and a small trickle of blood ran down his nose.

Ladybug screamed, and Rena nodded at her, letting her know that she could handle Hawkmoth for a few more minutes.

"Kitty!" Ladybug hollered, simultaneously swinging her yoyo like a sling. When she had gained enough momentum, she released it, sending the weighted tool right at Mayura's face. She had only a moment to dodge the attack, and in the process, felt the ranged blow strike her ear. Her grimace sent a surge of boldness through Ladybug's veins.

"Maybe you didn't EAR what Chat was saying, but we are giving you a chance to do the right thing."

Chloe sighed at the pun and called on Pollen once more. "Pollen, Buzz on."

Even dazed, Chat wore a grin. "Was that a pun, Milady?"

"It may have been. Perhaps if you help MEOWT, I'll tell you a few more," she teased.

Chat picked himself up, dramatically dusting off his suit.

"Let's do this Bug," he called.

"Chat, have you ever played any of the Ultimate Mecha Strike games?"

"Yeah, in fact, I'm probably the best player out of all the people I know," he lied.

"Somehow I doubt that," Ladybug said, recalling a time that they had stayed up all night playing and she had beat him 47 games to 2.

"Anyways, do you remember the Double Combo Grand Slam?"

"Roger," he replied.

"Yes?" Officer Raincomprix asked.

"No, I mean affirmative," Chat replied, narrowly dodging an entire shelf that Mayura had tossed in his direction," but actually, while I have you, could you move your guys out of here? It's getting a bit dangerous."

Just then a wooden chair exploded into shards as it contacted the wall.

"Double Combo Grand Slam?" he asked. Ladybug nodded.

Without a second thought he bent his back, and prepared. Ladybug launched herself onto his shoulders, and once again leapt, bouncing on the wall behind Mayura. At that moment, Chat rushed the villain, who instinctively blocked his first strike. He countered only a moment later by sweeping her at the knee, and watched as he sent her spinning in the air. Ladybug, still in midair, caught Mayura halfway through the turquoise peacock's flip and held her down, bringing her into a classic pile driver. Mayura gasped, then laid on the ground.

In the same moment, Hawkmoth broke free of the illusion, and Rena Rouge's necklace gave her a final ring.

Ladybug looked at her,"Go, we can take care of Hawkmoth."

With no more encouragement, Rena ran, leaving the room with just 5 occupants- the three remaining Miraculers, Hawkmoth, and an unconscious Mayura, still in her akumatized state.

"Mayura, wake up, it's time," Hawkmoth called, gently grabbing her hand.

She stirred and offered an incoherent grunt.

"Hurry, we must gain the upper hand and get out of here. If Adrien is still in the building, we may be putting him in danger by fighting. "

In just a moment, he used his cane to strike all 3 advancing heroes, and grabbed Mayura's fan from an unsuspecting Chat Noir. "It seems like you've allowed this to slip out of your hands, or should I say paws?" he laughed, handing it back to a weakened Mayura.

With the feathers now returned to her, she created 5 sentimonsters, linked to 5 charms of a charm bracelet she found on one of the shelves.. Each looked just like one of the members of team miraculous. "Go, Chaton Noir, Ladybird, Shell, Ms. Fox, and Killer Queen. To the Trocadero".

Gabriel nodded in approval of the names, and the 7 headed towards the exit, leaving Chat, Ladybug, and Queen Bee in stunned silence.

"Uh...What just happened," Chat asked, clutching his aching ribs.


	11. Wide Open Spaces

Eleven: Wide Open Spaces

Author's Note:

_Ep: Uh, Ic, I just checked the outline -- this story was supposed to only go ten chapters. We're not gonna incur any sort of overage charge, are we? My wallet is pretty thin at the moment…_

_Ic: Actually, many writers have historically been paid "per word" (surprisingly Charles Dickens not being one of them). By that logic we should be making money from these upcoming chapters… and knowing how loquacious you are, I think we should get ready to buy Miraculous!_

Ladybug knelt down to help her partner up, who grimaced again as he grabbed at his side. "How bad?" she asked.

"Bad enough," he said, then smiled. The mask had protected most of his nose from Mayura's attack, but a trail of dried blood stood out against his skin, reminding Ladybug that they were both capable of being injured, super-suits or not. "Down, but most definitely not out."

"Indeed," Ladybug smiled back. "This is quite a gamble," she said. "Are you certain they will be waiting for us?"

"Pawsitive," he said. "Hawkmoth thinks he's got us on the ropes and has turned this to his advantage; he's likely deluded enough to think he's got a real shot at getting our Miraculous now." He wrinkled his face at the shooting pain - breathing deeply appeared to be an issue at the moment, and he resolved to try not to do it. "It was also the only way to flush out Nathalie. Multiple Sentimonsters are an unexpected bonus."

"I expected one," Ladybug said, "not five. Should have seen Hawkmoth akumatizing Mayura."

"Live and learn." He cocked his head and spoke into the comm unit. "Rena, Cap, are you in position?"

"Yeah," Rena called back. "Ready and waiting."

Chat turned to the two remaining superheroes. "If we've guessed right - and so far we've been spot on--" he ignored Ladybug's eye-rolling "--Hawkmoth should revert to form and head for the Tower." He raised his ring paw. "As it happens, I know a shortcut."

He started for the wall of the vault, holding his paw out. Ladybug grabbed his bicep. "Chat!" she said urgently. "If you use Cataclysm now, you'll need to recharge before we engage with Hawkmoth. You should save it."

The feline superhero's masked eyes crinkled with humor. "Got it covered," he said slyly. "Stand back, ladies," he said before crying out: "Cataclysm!"

Once the power flowed into his paw, he pressed it against the wall of the vault and then stepped back to watch a portion of it turn to ash and fall away, revealing the subterranean sewer. Both he and Ladybug had been in this particular section a number of times, so they dashed into the semi-darkness, trailing a bemused Queen Bee in their wake.

Running along the ledge paralleling the phosphorescent water, Ladybug realized Chat's ring wasn't chirping. As they came to a fork in the underground warren, she pulled Chat aside and nodded to Queen Bee. "The hatch is about twenty meters forward," she said to her. "I need a moment with Chat, if you don't mind."

Queen Bee nodded and continued.

Ladybug turned and pressed Chat into the brickwork of the wall, eliciting both raised masked eyebrows and a trademark Chat smirk. "Milady, if you're planning on ravishing me, I'm obligated to remind you that I'm already spoken for."

Trying very hard not to smile, Ladybug counseled her features. "Your Cataclysm," she said directly. "Why isn't your ring chirping?"

Chat's smirk turned into a broader smile. "You noticed that, did you?" he asked playfully.

"How could I not," she said. "That five-minute timer has ruled our world for years." She picked up his paw - one, she noted, that had gotten a little too close to the ribbons in her pigtails for her comfort - and pointedly looked at the glowing cat paw. "And yet, none of your pads have disappeared."

"Really?" he said in mock seriousness, putting a claw tip to his chin. "How strange."

"Chat!" Ladybug cried in frustration. "What's going--"

There was a cough over the comm units, followed by Rena. "If you two lovebirds wouldn't mind… we could use a hand up here."

"We're not--" Ladybug spluttered.

"She's not--" Chat Noir simultaneously said.

"Whatever," Rena laughed over the channel. "But if you please?"

Chat smirked again as he carefully withdrew his paw and started running along the ledge with his partner. "Saved by the bell," he laughed, tapping the eponymous item at his throat with a claw.

"We'll continue this discussion later," Ladybug growled as they hauled up beneath a ladder rising into the sunshine.

"Purromises, purromises," Chat cackled as he eschewed the ladder and simply leapt up into the wide plaza above.

Ladybug hurriedly followed him into the daylight, temporarily shielding her eyes with a gloved hand against the glare. They'd come up directly below the tower in the wide esplanade tucked between the four legs of the structure; from what she could tell, the heroes who had gone ahead of them had followed Chat's instructions and cleared the tourists from the space. She smiled as she watched Queen Bee hustle a small gaggle of foreign travellers back toward their bus, and smiled wider to think that her partner had considered just about every angle when crafting their plan.

Her boyfriend had definitely grown into his role and she couldn't be happier.

"I can see Rena and Cap," Chat said quickly, pulling Ladybug out of her thoughts.

"And our evil duo?"

"Right where we want them," Chat smiled, and she saw it was the super-dangerous one he saved for moments just like that. He pointed a claw upward. "Second floor." He laughed a little. "Marinette would love the irony. They are just outside the Macaroon Bar."

"She would," Ladybug murmured. "And they're both there?"

"Yep," Chat squinted slightly. "Nathalie is still transformed so, yeah. Double trouble." He turned back to Ladybug. "Just as we expected." His eyes were hooded with concern. "This next part is going to be tough," he said as he put a paw to her upper arm. "But we've got this."

"I worry that we've not thought of everything," Ladybug said as she wrapped her hand around his paw.

"That's why you were re-checking the exits for Cap and Rena," he smiled. "We haven't. Just look at those Senitmonsters," he said, head inclined toward the ring of creatures quite literally standing between the tower and the wider Trocadero plaza. "They throw something at us that we're not expecting and we do what we always do."

"What's that?" she asked.

Chat extended his baton slightly for fight mode and started to run across the plaza. "Wait for you to come up with a plan," he laughed as he partner fell into step beside him.

"Hah hah," she said, rolling her eyes. "Very funny. Other than taking these guys out, I've got nothing."

"I have a feline that's not true," he said as he sprinted ahead of her to deflect a yo-yo attack from Ladybird; he managed to repel it at such an angle that it rebounded back toward the faux hero and wrapped itself around her arm.

Another leap, and trailing a menacing growl; Chat soared over the plaza and came down on the yo-yo with his baton, putting all of his momentum into the arc. The device cracked open and the feather wafted away only to be snagged by the real Ladybug. "One down!" Chat cried out from where he was on all fours against the marble.

Ladybug started to say something, but his ears flattened and he made an attempt to leap away - but not fast enough, for a shimmering forcefield appeared over him. Chat rammed his head into the top of the curved field, and dropped back to the marble rubbing furiously a spot between his feline ears. He leapt toward the edge of the field again and raked his claws over it, to no effect. "I'm trapped," he said, voice muffled by the shimmering energy surrounding him.

Slightly turning, Ladybug found Shell was lumbering toward her, holding the circular shield in his hands. "I could use some help," Ladybug called out. "Chat's in the litterbox."

"Hey!" Chat said. "Let's call it like it is…"

Rena dropped in beside Ladybug from where she'd been perched; her flute was already in her hands, and she bounced again back into the air, leapfrogging the turtle. On her way over the Sentimonster, it half turned to try and grab at her leg; though it missed, it forced her to adjust her trajectory, and her flute missed the bracelet entirely. "Damn," she said as she landed in a crouch, frowning.

Out of virtually nowhere, Carapace's green shield sailed over Rena's head and squarely hit Shell's bracelet. As the shield ricocheted away, the feather appeared and was again nabbed by Ladybug before it escaped.

"Two for two!" Chat yelled with more enthusiasm than Ladybug would have expected as the shimmering field around him disappeared and he bounded back into the field of play. He stood in a small ring with Ladybug, Rena and now Carapace; Chaton Noir was advancing on Chat while Ms. Fox was readying to pounce on Rena.

"Opposites!" Ladybug cried out.

Rena stepped behind Carapace, while Ladybug stepped in front of Chat.

"Uh, Milady," Chat said, his claws out and baton spinning, "I admire your desire to defend my virtue, but purrhaps we should do this together."

"I didn't know your virtue needed defending, Chat," Ladybug smirked, and was rewarded by seeing her partner's face flame. "But no, I'm not doing this alone. Remember that overgrown spider?" she asked.

Chat's eyes went wide. "I still have night--" he started. He didn't get to finish his thought as Chaton Noir leapt toward the two of them, ring hand extended and faux Cataclysm popping. Chat leapt left, and Ladybug right, but twisted at the last moment to bring his baton down on the back of the creature.

It fell, splayed out against the marble; Cataclysm opened a hole in the marble below his ring hand, and it turned strangely empty green eyes back to Chat. He felt a shiver run down his spine but swallowed back the emotion and instead leapt toward Chaton Noir once more, baton extending as he moved. Landing, hard, he rammed the baton into the marble and held it fast. "Ready!" he yelled.

Ladybug looped her yo-yo around the baton and leapt into the air, then circled around it. Chat tried to keep it steady as she picked up speed and then launched herself off the pole and landed, feet first, atop the ring hand of the still-flattened Chaton Noir. The ring cracked open, and the third feather was purified by Ladybug.

"Are we having fun yet?" she asked from her knees.

"Absolutely. I had no idea you were a pole dancer," Chat Noir replied, waggling his masked eyebrows. She bopped him on his still-injured nose with her yo-yo, and he had the good sense not to complain as he rubbed it.

"Watch out!" Rena cried.

Chat dove toward Ladybug, rolling up around her and out of the way of a yellow-and-black dive bomb. Killer Queen leapt back into the air and dropped within a meter of Chat, who rolled sideways once more, narrowly avoiding the business end of the stinger. "Sting like a bee?" he said to Ladybug, who he was still clutching. "I thought that was going to be for Chaton Noir."

"I'm improvising," she said. "Ladybug's prerogative," she added, smirking when her partner rolled his eyes.

They tumbled again, but this time, he rolled out and flung Ladybug away from him forcefully. She sailed through the air away from him, landing in a crouch on the opposite side of Killer Queen. She spun up her yo-yo, all the while looking for an opportunity to go for the hair pin.

She didn't need it, for Queen Bee herself sailed over Killer Bee, knocking the pin loose with her top. It clattered across the marble, coming to rest at the feet of Rena. Smiling, Rena raised her boot and smashed the faux Miraculous, releasing the fourth feather of the afternoon which Ladybug deftly snatched out of the air with her yo-yo.

"Four down," Chat said as the fivesome turned in unison on Ms. Fox. True to her namesake, she'd been keeping just outside the fray, analyzing the fight before making her move. Chat looked toward Ladybug, "I think I'm getting awmeowfully tired of this."

Knowing what he was getting at, she smiled at him and stepped back. "Go for it."

With a crazed roar, Chat leapt at Ms. Fox, who tried to sidestep his attack -- and rammed directly into Rena herself, who'd used Chat's diversion to move closer to her doppleganger. Quickly she brought her flute down atop the faux flute, snapping it in half and releasing the final feather.

As Ladybug nabbed it with her yo-yo, she turned to the team. "Back to our regularly scheduled program," she said briskly. Save for Chat Noir, the rest of the team dashed away in opposite directions to ready themselves for the next phase. Stowing her yo-yo, she fell in beside Chat as the two of them raced back toward the esplanade beneath the Tower.

"We've got to get to Mayura before she can distract us with more friends," Chat said as they ran across the marble.

"Then she's next on the agenda," Ladybug said. "And for some reason, I seem to remember that had been the plan all along."

"Was it?" Chat said, smiling, as he came to a stop and then began to rise up into the base of the tower on his baton. "I can't recall."

"Chat!" she yelled after him, but couldn't help but smile as she darted across the esplanade toward one of the four legs of the tower. She crossed the final distance in a massive leap as she tossed her yo-yo into the superstructure and reeled herself up to the first floor. She could see Chat as he vaulted off his baton and then started leaping from crossbar to crossbar, and found herself slightly disappointed her Miraculous hadn't given her that particular ability. "Position check," she said into the earwig.

"Queenie on the rise," she heard and turned to see Queen Bee standing atop the elevator as it headed upward.

"Flute's on the table," Rena called into the channel. "And ready to play the jig."

"Turtle's in the water," Carapace interjected. "Well, not really. But I'm close."

"Chat's in the cradle," her partner laughed in her ear as she looked up to see him swing around the edge of the railing on the first floor. "Heading for the -- hang on," he said with some urgency, followed by an under-his-breath oath. "Mayura's released another one of those damn feathers of hers. It's headed for Trocadero."

"Got it covered," Carapace immediately replied. "I'm in position."

Ladybug watched Chat pause and then continue his climb. "I can see Shell-ter from here," he said. "One down, Milady."

"Thank the kwamis. Queenie, let me know when you reach the top. We need you in position at just the right moment."

"You can count on me," Queen Bee said. "Just a few more minutes."

Ladybug rolled over onto the first floor and then immediately snagged a crossbeam higher up to begin rising up behind her partner. Chat was well ahead of her, which technically was part of the plan, but he seemed a little too far ahead. "Chat, slow down a bit."

"No, Milady," he replied immediately.

Frowning, Ladybug realized he might have not filled her in on all of the details. "What are you doing, Chat? We've talked about this--"

"I'm doing what we decided," he said. "Hawkmoth thinks we're still teenagers; we need to play into that."

Ladybug tried to speed up her looping/reeling yo-yo activity, for with a cold dread of certainty, she understood what Chat was about to do. "I don't think this is wise," she said, huffing slightly at the effort.

"I've got to sell it for our plan to work," he said, then added, quickly, "and I know you have my back. I trust in that."

"No pressure," Rena observed.

"Chat -- wait!"

"No time now," he said. "I'm here. Hurry if you can."

She looked up and saw his tail as it whipped over the edge and disappeared. It was enough of an incentive for her to hurl the yo-yo as far as she could and then yank it such that she sprung upward at an unusually insane rate.

"Hey," she heard Chat say. "Didn't we just capture you?"

Hawkmoth's response was lost in the commotion that ensued, and as Ladybug rose, she saw flashes of light that seemed timed to grunts coming from Chat across the open comm. "Double, double, toil and sizzle," she heard him say, "Hawkmoth burn and miss the hero."

"Are you butchering Shakespear?" This was from Rena.

"So I'm a literary feline," Chat replied good naturedly, "I'll have you know the -- oof! that was close! -- the librarians at my branch have adopted this kitty. One of them has my action figure on her desk."

Ladybug reeled herself up to a position just below the second floor, and crouched. She could now hear Hawkmoth's voice but was still too far away to make out the words. There was a crash and more flashes of light, presumably some sort of energy beam from his staff.

"Oh, the humanity," Chat said. "All those macaroons. And some of them were passion fruit, too."

Despite the situation, that made Ladybug arch a masked eyebrow. "You're worried about the macaroons?" she asked.

"I know how long it takes to make one, Milady," he said, grunting slightly as he apparently avoided something. "In position?"

"Yes," she said, bracing further and reading her yo-yo.

"In two…" he said, pausing, followed by: "Cataclysm!"

Just above Ladybug, the flooring disintegrated and a very surprised Mayura started to drop toward the street. With a deft movement, Ladybug looped her yo-yo through a cross beam above her before wrapping it around the falling form of the villain, then yanked to swing her toward the beam she was standing on.

Kicking (and quite possibly screaming), Mayura tried to do something with her fan, but Ladybug had looped the yo-yo's steely bands around her arms. Yanking once more, she swung her closer, and at just the right part of the arc, snagged the Peacock Miraculous from Mayura's chest.

"Got it!" Ladybug cried as Mayura de-transformed and a very angry Nathalie appeared, swinging gently in the open space. "Rena, I'm gonna lower her to you…" Ladybug continued as she released more cord than she thought was possible from the yo-yo.

"One evildoer down," Rena laughed. "I've created the same hall of mirrors we used with Gabriel," she added. "But that puts us on the clock."

"Cap?"

"I'm recharged and making my way to Rena. I'll use Shell-ter if needed."

Realizing she'd not heard anything from her partner, not even a whoop of excitement at having caught Mayura, Ladybug called out. "Chat? What's going on?"

There was a long moment of silence. "Milady… I'm in a bit of a situation."

That wasn't what she'd hoped to hear, and she quickly tossed her yo-yo up once more and curled around the edge of the railing. Landing in a defensive crouch, she saw Hawkmoth at the far end of the space; he had his cane pressed against Chat's throat, and Chat had both paws pinned behind it. The look of pure anger on her partner's face worried her, but she was more concerned with the evil gleam in Hawkmoth's eyes.

"Ladybug," he said with that baritone she had come to despise. He smiled. "You know the drill at this point. But I'll remind you one last time. Give me your earrings, and I'll let Chat live."

Chat struggled a bit and ceased immediately when Hawkmoth pressed the cane slightly. "Sorry, Milady," he said quite sincerely.

But then he winked at her.

Ah, she thought. "Are you okay, Chat?" she asked, keeping the concerned expression.

"Other than a bruised ego, yes," he said.

"Enough chit-chat," Hawkmoth said. "Hand over--"

"You mean chit-Chat?" Chat interrupted. "If I'm about to die, at least give me my due."

"Enough!" Hawkmoth thundered. He looked down to Chat's ring hand. "I'll just take this now, thank you," he said, smiling the grim smile he wore. As he started to slide the ring off, though, Chat cleared his throat.

"You might not want to do that," he said.

Without bothering to even look at Chat, Hawkmoth chuckled. "Why on earth would I not?"

"It might hurt," Chat replied.

Hawkmoth looked a bit bemused. "I'm not sure you understand the position you're in," he said.

"Oh, I am completely aware of my position," Chat said. In the next breath, he cried out: "Cataclysm!"

The cane immediately disintegrated beneath Chat's paw, and the feline superhero dropped directly to the ground and rolled sideways. Hawkmoth started to follow, but a black-and-yellow blur dropped down from above him, shouting "Venom!"

Turning slightly, the super villain tried to fend off Queen Bee but it was too late; once more, she drove her stinger into Hawkmoth and he froze in place, stunned. This time, though, Ladybug leapt toward the villain and plucked the Moth Miraculous from his cravat.

Still crouched on the tile, Chat tried to keep his expression neutral as the de-transformation occurred and Gabriel Agreste was revealed. A million emotions ran through him, but he shoved them into the Adrien box, to be dealt with later. Standing, he turned to his partner and held out his fist. "This one feels good," he started. "Pound it!"

"It does indeed," Ladybug laughed. "And I didn't even have to use Lucky Charm."

"The day is still young," Chat laughed, his masked eyes crinkling with humor. "But you could repair the damage I did…"

"Of course," Ladybug replied, and tossed her yo-yo to the sky. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she cried, and a few moments later her little red helpers had righted Paris once more. The duo then turned toward the man that had made life miserable in the city they protected for far too long.

Gabriel Agreste stood there without the faintest trace of regret, but he did wear a knowing expression. "I failed to anticipate your growth," he said, nodding at Chat. "You finally learned how to wield your power."

Chat nodded. "We've all learned," he said, before turning to Ladybug and adding: "But now it's over. It's all over."

"Is it?" Gabriel said with mock innocence.

Chat's mane snapped back, swirling his hair in the process. "What have you done?" he asked as he took a menacing step toward the designer.

"Clearly you've not learned enough," he said. "Let's just say I have an insurance policy. One that comes due in case I'm interrupted in my… pursuit… of the Cat and Bug Miraculous." Agreste took a step toward Chat, and the two were separated by mere centimeters. "You might have won this round, Chat Noir, but there will be a rematch."

Chat stayed facing Gabriel for a long, long moment, and would have stayed longer save for the arrival of the authorities. Without breaking eye contact, he watched as they cuffed and then carted off his father, only turning to Ladybug when the doors to the elevator firmly closed on that chapter of his life.

"You know what this means," he said sadly.

"Yeah," Ladybug replied as she wrapped her partner in a hug. "Hawkmoth passed the baton. We've got to talk to Master Fu - I can't believe it's possible, but there must be a third missing jewel, or a completely new one that we've not heard of."

Chat nodded sadly. "It also means I can't reveal myself to Marinette," he said quietly. "None of us can reveal - we're not done. Not by a long stretch."

Ladybug saw the pain in his masked face and realized that though they had won the day, the battle was going to continue. And her heart hurt for her kitty - her boyfriend - for he had clearly been looking forward to a happier ending.

With her.

"Hey," she said, hugging him again. "It's just a temporary setback, kitty." she said. "And we can still have a happy ending. Maybe not the one we'd hoped for, but that one is coming, too."

Placing a gloved hand on his cheek, Ladybug carefully pulled him closer in order to gently press her lips to his, then softly kissed him before easing back and looking deeply into those emerald eyes hiding within the mask. "Trust me."

Chat smiled a half smile. "You're right, bugaboo," he said, bestowing the moniker he'd not used in years. "Look, I'm going to go to Marinette if you don't mind."

"I don't," she smiled. "I still want to know more about how you managed to pull off multiple Cataclysms, but that can wait. Go. I'll see you later."

He saluted his mock salute and sailed over the edge of the railing, taking her heart with him.


	12. Suffocating Secrets and Silent Smiles

Twelve: Suffocating Secrets and Silent Smiles

Author's Note:

_Ep: Look, Ic, I think we need about a hundred more pages now. We have to explain what happened in that last chapter! Our fans are going to riot. I mean, come on, those poor macaroons… did the ladybug helpers fix them? And how does Chat keep working that Cataclysm of his? Can Ladybug call more than one Lucky Charm? Maybe we should--_

_Ic: Eh, I was thinking we could have the last chapter that answers none of those, then maybe an epilogue that somehow seems to raise more questions, and doesn't provide the reader with a sense of completion._

Adrien sat in his apartment room, fiddling back and forth with the metallic hoop. He felt his fingers trace the intricate curves of the metal object-- the one that he had secretly considered his good luck charm. The one he had planned to use today.

Impulsive he picked it up and walked to his window, gazing at his hometown.

"Hey Adrien, we did it! Camembert on me," Plagg congratulated, handing him a slice of odiferous cheese.

"Well actually since I bought it, it was in me. But thanks," Adrien said, forcing it down to show appreciation for his Kwami.

"Are you gonna need that?" Plagg said, gesturing to his hand.

"I don't know. But I'll keep it on paw, just in case."

Plagg nodded, knowing what was about to come next.

"Plagg, claws out!"

The hero felt light swirl around him, and allowed the graceful moves to overcome him. He relaxed ever so slightly as he wiped his hair and felt his feline ears materialize.

Then, hesitantly, he placed the precious trinket in a storage compartment within his baton.

The window quickly found itself flung open, and a leather clad cat leaped towards the ground. He felt himself drop. 1 meter. 2 meters. 5 meters. As the ground neared, he slid out the baton, and pogo sticked himself into the Parisian skyline. In the distance he saw a girl.

No. A fair maiden.

No. A princess. His princess, nestled in a blanket on her balcony.

It took him only a moment to steer himself towards Marinette, and in doing so he landed with a thunk against the balcony.

"Chaton!" She cried gleefully.

"Just don't call me Chaton Noir… that name reminds me of a less than friendly face I met today," he teased halfheartedly.

"Oh? So how was today? Did you beat Hawkmoth?"

Chat smiled softly. "Yeah it was decent. I took a good beating or two, but we did it. We finally stopped Hawkmoth. He is currently enjoying an all expenses paid stay in the VIP wing of La Santé, courtesy of Team Miraculous," he snickered, just a little bit of a smile coming out.

"And Nathalie? Did you get her too?" She asked hopefully, trying to prepare a look of shock on her face when he answered.

"Yup! She is also enjoying a well earned vacation from a job she was WAY too dedicated to," he laughed.

"Right? Can you believe she was in love with him this whole time?!" Marinette added.

"No, it's crazy… wait. How did you know that? It just happened…" he stared.

"Ooooh… um… the Ladyblog put up a … uh… tweet of one of the officers at the event," she lied.

Chat laughed. "Haha, of course! I don't know what else it could have been," he smiled.

His warm smile twisted a knife into her heart as she forced herself to ask.

"So… can you tell me who you are now mon Chaton?" She begged.

"Uh…"

She could see his head drop down, and felt her heart do the same thing.

"Well, see Mari. It's still not safe," he said, a tear sliding down his face,"I can't. Not until we make sure Hawkmoth doesn't have a backup plan in place… like he claimed he did."

As Marinette felt her heart rending itself apart, she looked to see her kitty experience the same struggle.

"Screw it," she thought.

"I'm Ladybug," she said, staring him in the eyes.

If silence was measured in weight, the floorboards would have given under the immense stress of what couldn't have been less than the equivalent of a dozen elephants. The empty void filled the heroes as they stared at one another, eyes locked, as if some eternal force held them in place, refusing to allow the universe to resume its prior actions.

Finally Chat let out a snorting laugh. "Hahahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha! Marinette that is sooo funny. You had me for a second. Then I imagined you trying to seduce me in a polka dotted spandex suit, and tripping over yourself on the way to the bedroom."

Marinette felt her face go red.

"Plus, Ladybug knows it would be dangerous to reveal our identities now. It would have been really cute if you were the real Ladybug though. Not that I would love you any less for not being someone else," he added.

Marinette went from watermelon pink cherry red in an instant.

"Yeah, of course," she said, rushing to the kitchen to hide her blush.

Chat looked at her and smiled. She was the perfect girl for him. Heck, he was sure she was the perfect girl for anyone.

"Screw it," he thought.

Carefully he got on one knee, and opened his pocket. The glistening golden ring that his grandfather had given his grandmother, and his father had given his mother (the pattern repeated several times over a couple centuries) protruded slightly. He pulled it out, deciding that unless a sign from the universe dared to stop him, he was going to make this official, right here, right now.

"Mari, can you come back here?" He asked, raising the ring up to his face.

"Yeah, just a second, my love, I'm just getting some food ready," she said, still waiting for her burning face to calm down.

She walked in balancing several places of desserts in her hands, less than aware of her surroundings.

Chat began before he could chicken out of the best decision of his life his voice shaking"Marinette, I love you, and I-I will al-always love you. A-and well… will you ma--"

Then in an overall Marinetteish fashion, she toppled over, shattering the plates in her possession against the ground.

Chat watched as a stray croissant knocked the ring out of his hand. It rolled down the hardwood floor, and straight down the heating vent, followed by several deepening 'clinks'.

Betrayed by croissant.

He felt several obscenities find their way into his mind, only for them to be interrupted by his lovely Purrrincess.

"Sorry, Kitty," she apologized as she began to pick up the ceramic tainted pastries,"what were you asking?"

"Oh, um… will… you...ma… make me a purromise that you'll always love me?"

"Um, of course Kitty. Is there any reason you're on one knee?" She asked.

"Oh. Um, I guess this is just how things ended up after the plates crashed," he said half truthfully.

"Oh, hahaha. I almost thought you were going to propose or something. But of course you don't have the ring. So I don't know why I got so excited."

Yeah. I don't have the ring… anymore. It'll probably take me a couple hours to fish it out of there… while you aren't home.

Chat sighed, stewing on his misfortune.

Wait got excited?

"Did you say excited?" He asked hopefully.

"Of course! I want the government of Paris to legally acknowledge that you are mine, and that therefore no man, woman, or child can have you unless I die first," she teased.

Chat smiled at the silly girl before him. She wanted to marry him. For the first time in their relationship she had actually brought up marriage. And most importantly, she had said that the idea excited her.

Chat was just steps away from imagining a full life with Marinette from a honeymoon, to 3 kids, to a dozen grandkids, all the way to bingo nights together at the senior center, when Marinette shook him.

"Chat! Chaton! Kitty! Hey, Chat Noir!" She called.

"Hey. Oh… uh, sorry. I got distracted. What were you saying?"

"Oh, silly kitty. I was just saying that we need to get this mask off before we walk down the aisle," she said, while sliding her fingers behind the mask and pulling.

"Mari, you know the mask stays on because of magic. You can't pull it off," he reminded her.

"I know,"she countered," but I can do this!"

As her statement came to an end, she pulled hard on his mask, bringing his face close to hers, and leapt into his grasp, her lips already on his.

In a tender manner, she caressed her fingers against his soft feline ears, eliciting an instantaneous rumble from his chest.

She held him close, not daring to believe that he could ever put her down. As she squeezed herself even tighter against his chest, he took his right and gently brushed his fingers across her cheek, careful to avoid scratching her with his claws. With his left arm, he held her against his chest, basking in the warmth that her body added to his own.

Eventually, the kissing seemed to escalate and Chat found himself on the ground, Marinette just above him. He pulled away for just a moment, and allowed himself to get lost in the twin oceans that Marinette insisted were her eyes.

"Princess, I had kinda planned a celebratory dinner tonight. Now I can cancel the reservation and kiss some more or we can go eat some very high class food in a private room of a certain three star restaurant," he tempted.

"Well… I guess I am hungry. Purromise you'll never leave me Kitty?" She whispered into his ear.

"Of course, Princess. I'll stick with you forever," he whispered back.

When Chat realized he was supposed to show up at the restaurant in formal wear, he suggested he go home, change, and return. However, Marinette had other plans as she produced a suit from her closet.

"This one's called 'Noir, Mon Amour'."

Chat had to leave for a moment, changing in her bathroom. When he returned, he was decked in a two piece suit: a black shirt that seemed to pop against a slightly lighter black suit, and matching suit pants. His tie was a beautiful neon shade of green, and what seemed to "tie" the whole design together: His cufflinks were little black pawprints.

A black wig hid his ears and telltale scraggly blonde locks, and the bangs nearly hid his mask if he looked down slightly. He smiled as he looked himself over in the mirror, admiring how thoughtful Marinette had been in her planning.

"Purrincess, did you make this whole outfit for meow?" he asked slyly.

"Yeah, you or any of my other superhero boyfriends that I need to hide from the public eye," she said, walking towards the door.

In a moment, the couple were out on the street. Marinette wrapped herself around Chat's extended arm, allowing him to escort her through the street.

He couldn't help but look at her. He actually couldn't, since he had to look down for the wig's bangs to cover his mask. She was wearing a beautiful crimson dress, a black belt running along her waist, providing a dark stripe to contrast the red of the dress. The colors reminded Chat somewhat of Ladybug, and as he thought of her, a tinge of guilt crept into his conscience.

"Ladybug kissed me!" he blurted, nearly killing whatever mood had been developing as they enjoyed their romantic evening stroll.

"Ok," Marinette replied, completely unfazed.

"Um… like… on the lips," he uttered, his heart seizing in his chest.

Marinette looked at him, eminatating warmth. "Um… did you like it?"

"NO! Well, yes, but no," he began,"I had been dreaming of the day that she kissed me like that for years, and her skills match yours. But, you're the only girl I want to make meowt with."

"C'mon Chat! A pun in the middle of that?" she said, feigning disapproval.

"Sorry, but the day I stop tailing puns is the day that I stop loving you. Which is fancy romance language for 'never'," he smirked, softly meeting her eyes.

She squeezed his arm a little tighter, enjoying the warmth that she felt across her chest and in her heart.

They walked like that a little longer, enjoying the silence. Chat still couldn't believe that Marinette was ok with Ladybug's actions, and Marinette was thrilled that Chat had wholeheartedly chosen the mild mannered designer over the speckled heroine extraordinaire.

As they reached the restaurant, Chat held the door open for his Purrincess, enjoying the incredibly rare opportunity to be with her in public.

"Charles Norris," he said as he approached the podium, where the hostess stood. She looked at the reservations and smiled. Of coarse, Charles. Right this way."

Marinette looked at him slack jawed, as they followed the hostess, who still hadn't realized that she was escorting Chat Noir and his girlfriend to a table.

"Chat," she whispered, "please tell me that wasn't your real name."

"Of course not. It's impawssible for me to be that absent minded. Cha-rles like Cha-t. And Norris sounds a little like Noir."

Marinette heaved a sigh of relief as they ordered their food, and Chat smiled as he thought up an idea.

"So...if I were anyone, who would you want me to be?" he asked as soon as the waiter who was taking their order left.

"Um...what?"

"Let's say that you were allowed to pick my civilian identity. Who would your ideal choice be?"

Marinette made a face as she tried to think of a way around the question. "Um, what made you even ask something like that, it seems so random."

Chat mimicked her expression, which caused her to frown. "I didn't make that face," she protested.

"My Purrincess, you most certainly did. And I was thinking about how you pretended to be Ladybug. If I could choose anyone in the world to be Ladybug, it would be you. So now I want to know, since you love Chat Noir, who would you hope to find behind the mask? Or even if you know he's not me, who would you be happy to find out is Chat Noir?"

Marinette offered a swift dodge. "Honestly, I'll be happy with whoever you are."

Chat gave her a chiding glance, letting her know that he knew what she was trying to do.

She remained silent, and he nodded, realizing that she wasn't planning to tell him that, most likely to preserve his feelings.

"Haha, never mind, Princess. Sorry to put you on the spot," he smiled.

It was at that moment that he heard something uttered under her breath that made him smile, something that no human ears would ever perceive.

"I guess the person who makes me happiest, besides you, would be Adrien Agreste. So even though I know you aren't him, that would have been nice."

The dinner went along well. The best friends in the two came out as they talked about goals and dreams. The lovers came out as they talked about times that they had begun to develop feelings for one another. It was at that dinner that the universe proved just how perfect they were for each other. They just didn't realize it yet.


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue

Author's Note:

_Ep: Icarus went for coffee, so I snuck in one final chapter. Don't tell him, he thought we were done. Hah! Wait until -- oh, hi, Ic! Don't mind me, I'm just… checking my coupons for Safeway. Yeah. Coupons. Two for one on Tomato soup this week._

It took all of her prowess at deception for Lila Rossi to talk her way into the VIP wing of La Santé; in the end, though, she'd been forced to go for the basic bawl-and-shawl routine, convincing the guards there had been some sort of amazing bureaucratic mess that would prevent her from seeing her incarcerated Uncle Gabriel. As the French Government was notorious in the mixed-up paperwork department, the overworked officer had opted to forgo calling up the food chain to confirm her story and instead placed the crying woman in the private visitor room before dispatching an underling to retrieve the disgraced designer.

Once the door was closed, the tears stopped and she rearranged herself in preparation for her visit, pulling out a compact mirror from her purse to adjust her hair and makeup. She expected to wait, and did; twenty minutes later, the opposite door was thrust open and two burly guards escorted the handcuffed Gabriel Agreste to the metal table. Lila tried to looked shocked at his appearance, which wasn't much of a stretch: in the month since Chat Noir and Ladybug had turned him over to the authorities, he'd lost some weight, but the emotional force of his presence was still there being the rimless glasses.

And the flame of anger.

The guards unlocked the cuffs and then withdrew from the room, leaving the two of them visibly alone - though the camera in the corner of the room blinked it's red warning light that it was operational. Lila waited for the door to close before speaking. "You look awful, Uncle," she smiled.

Gabriel smiled the cold smile of his. "It is what it is," he said. "What kept you? I expected you a few weeks ago."

It was Lila's turn to smile coldly. "There was a slight change in plans," she said.

He arched an eyebrow. "How much of a change?" he asked, lowering his voice. "Our timeline was already pretty tight."

"Your timeline," she reminded him. "Mine is, shall we say, a little different."

Gabriel leaned forward, and the motion carried with it an implied threat. "What have you done?" he asked with deadly earnestness.

Smiling wider, she pulled a small clip from her hair and placed it between them on the table. Outwardly it looked like an overly fancy hair barrette, one with a stylized flying animal of some sort at the top; upon seeing it, Gabriel leaned forward more. "You had no right to take it," he said, anger lacing each syllable. "This was not meant for you."

"Then you shouldn't have left it laying about, carelessly," she laughed as she pulled it away and slipped it back into her hair.

"I didn't," he replied, and then leaned back in his metal chair. Inclining his head, he looked at her anew. "Can I assume, then, our original arrangement has been voided?"

"That would be a safe bet," she said. Standing, she moved around her chair and placed her hands upon the back. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here. When the time is right."

"I told you before, we have no time for your personal vendetta--"

Eyes flashing, Lila cut him off. "From where I'm standing, you don't appear to be in a position to dictate terms."

Gabriel took his glasses off and very, very carefully, used an edge of his jumpsuit sleeve to clean one and then the other lense. "True," he said as he put the spectacles back on. "If you wish to excise your high school demons, I cannot stop you. But if I may provide some unsolicited advice?"

Lila nodded. "If it makes you feel better."

He looked at her directly, and Lila tried not to flinch. "These are not the teenagers you once knew. They are experienced. And they are quite capable of defeating you."

"People don't change," she scoffed, then smiled as she pulled the hairpin out once more, brandishing it under the poor lighting of the room. "And with a little encouragement, old grievances can be rekindled. Lines can once more be drawn."

Gabriel shook his head sadly. "That is not the path forward."

"I don't want to go forward," Lila fairly growled. "At least, not before I've put this behind me." Smiling once more as she slid the hairpin back, she added. "I have to thank you, Gabriel, for including me in your backup plan. For it's the only way I'd ever have had this opportunity."

Lila moved to the door and knocked, alerting the guard she was through. "You've given me the means to defeat those two infernally smug do-gooding heroes, and in a surprise bonus, access to the Cat and Bug Miraculous when I succeed." She smiled cruelly. "And I will succeed."

Continuing to shake his head, Gabriel was unsure of what he could say to the young woman whom fate had driven into his path. He'd accounted for a possible double-cross, of course, and would now need to set his backup-to-the-backup plan into motion. But he knew without a doubt that whatever machinations Lila had planned would be well underway by the time he'd taste outside air again.

Just before the guard opened the door, he finally broke the silence. "I won't wish you luck," he said grimly. "For you won't have it on your side."

"Won't I?" Lila said, eyes flashing dangerously. "They won't know what hit them until it's over." She paused for effect before adding: "If then."

With that, she was gone, leaving Gabriel alone in the space. He sat there, waiting for the guards to return him to his cell, and began to adjust his to the new reality he'd just been presented with.

And for the first time he could remember, Hawkmoth found himself actually rooting for Chat Noir and Ladybug to come out on top...


End file.
